After being rained out on Thursday the Bisons have moved around the starters for tonight’s matchup (5:30 pm) against Louisville. Buffalo gets the ‘spot start’ from Kyle Snyder in game 2 tonight as Brandon Knight is bumped to the series finale Sunday afternoon. Buffalo had an open spot in the rotation, being that Casey Fossum did not accept his assignment after begin designated by the Mets earlier this week. The series rotation will setup as follows:

FRI – Matt Maloney vs. Jon Niese; G2) Sam LeCure vs. Kyle Snyder
SAT – Homer Bailey vs. Dillon Gee
SUN – Daryl Thompson vs. Brandon Knight

READ: More on the game
~ BLW

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TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons host the Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds) in the first two games of a four-game series from Coca-Cola Field (Game 1 – 5:30 p.m.). The teams will play a doubleheader tonight because of last night’s postponement due to rain. Today’s games are the first of a stretch that will see the Herd play 20 of their next 28 games at home.

VS. LOUISVILLE: The Bats beat Buffalo in the 2008 season series, 5-3. It was the first time the Herd had lost a season series to Louisville since the 2003 season. Buffalo is hoping to snap last year’s trend as the road team won seven of the eight games between the two clubs. The Bisons were swept at Coca-Cola Field, July 10-13. It was the only home series the Herd has lost to the Bats since returning to the International League in 1998.

K-MAN: RHP Brandon Knight will get the start in Game 1 tonight. Knight has given the Bisons back-to-back quality starts in his last two outings. He allowed just three runs in six innings on April 18 in Syracuse and held the Chiefs to three runs in seven innings last Friday. Knight has averaged better than a strikeout per inning with 20 punchouts in only 18 innings of work. He has fanned at least five in all three of his starts this year.

SOLID DEBUT: The Bisons offense looks to get a huge boost from OF Wily Mo Pena. The free agent signed on April 20 and made his Herd debut Wednesday in Rochester with a two-hit performance. Pena hit 26 homeruns with Cincinnati in 2004 and has 77 career major league homers in 560 games.

GLOVE WORK: The Bisons have played three consecutive errorless games in the field. The Herd’s .984 fielding percentage as a team is tied for the 2nd best mark in the International League. Buffalo has just 11 errors in 18 games. Last season, the Bisons made an IL-worst 153 miscues in the field.

SPEED LIMIT: The good defense includes the work behind done behind the plate. Bisons’ catchers lead the International League in both times caught stealing (11) and percentage (46%). The Herd has allowed just 13 stolen bases in 24 attempts by its opponents. Newcomer C Michael Nickeas threw out his first baserunner in his Bisons debut on Wednesday in Rochester.

Since today’s game between Buffalo and Louisville was postponed before we hit the air, I decided to post the conversation Joel Godett had with new Orange football coach Doug Marrone while he was in town. Being an alum, Joel was giddy to ask the tough questions.

<a href="http://www.bisons.cLISTEN: Coach Marrone on SU with Joel

Interesting to note, the coach told Joel he “attended about 20 games last season in New Orleans” and was excited to have the Mets new Triple-A team in Buffalo.

The Bisons’ flagship station, WWKB-AM 1520, is a proud affiliate of Syracuse athletics and from time to time we’re joined by the “Voice of the Orange” Matt Park and other ‘Cuse celebs during the baseball season.

The Bisons will face the Bats in a twin-bill at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow. READ MORE!
~ Ben Wagner

Thursday’s game between the Buffalo Bisons and the Louisville Bats at Coca-Cola Field has been postponed due to rain. The teams will make up the game as part of a doubleheader on Friday, May 1. The teams will play two, seven-inning games on Friday with the first game starting at 5:30 p.m.

Friday’s game will remain a fridaynightbash!®, sponsored by Seneca Gaming Corporation, with a pre-game plaza party at 5:00 p.m. – Live music by the Boogie Monsters – and post game fireworks.

*FREE FOOD NIGHT will be rescheduled for a future game. That date is to be announced, but will not be this homestand.

Fans holding tickets to Thursday’s game can exchange them for a comparable ticket to any future 2009 Bisons games (excluding special events). All ticket exchanges must be made at the Coca-Cola Field box office. Please note that these exchanges do not have to be made on Thursday, April 30. Fans with tickets can exchange them throughout the remainder of the 2009 season.

For more information regarding the exchange policy, fans can visit Bisons.com.

Follow the Herd:
Listen to the Game Live: CLICK HERE!
Bisons Baseball Network: CLICK HERE!
Email the Broadcast Team: CLICK HERE!
Everything about the Herd: CLICK HERE!
Get to a Bisons Game: CLICK HERE!

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons host the Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds) in the first game of a four-game series from Coca-Cola Field (6:05 p.m.). Today’s game is the first of a stretch that will see the Herd play 20 of their next 28 games at home. The Bisons are coming off a 1-0 loss to Rochester as a two-game series was shortened to a single game due to a rainout on Tuesday night.

VS. LOUISVILLE: The Bats beat Buffalo in the 2008 season series, 5-3. It was the first time the Herd had lost a season series to Louisville since the 2003 season. Buffalo is hoping to snap last year’s trend as the road team won seven of the eight games between the two clubs. The Bisons were swept at Coca-Cola Field, July 10-13. It was the only home series the Herd has lost to the Bats since returning to the International League in 1998.

K-MAN: RHP Brandon Knight has given the Bisons back-to-back quality starts in his last two outings. He allowed just three runs in six innings on April 18 in Syracuse and held the Chiefs to three runs in seven innings last Friday. Knight has averaged better than a strikeout per inning with 20 punchouts in only 18 innings of work. He has fanned at least five in all three of his starts this year.

SOLID DEBUT: The Bisons offense looks to get a huge boost from OF Wily Mo Pena. The free agent signed on April 20 and made his Herd debut yesterday in Rochester with a two-hit performance. Pena hit 26 homeruns with Cincinnati in 2004 and has 77 career major league homers in 560 games.

GLOVE WORK: The Bisons have played three consecutive errorless games in the field. The Herd’s .984 fielding percentage as a team is tied with Gwinnett for the best mark in the International League. Buffalo has just 11 errors in 18 games. Last season, the Bisons made an IL-worst 153 miscues in the field.

SPEED LIMIT: The good defense includes the work behind done behind the plate. Bisons’ catchers lead the International League in both times caught stealing (11) and percentage (46%). The Herd has allowed just 13 stolen bases in 24 attempts by its opponents. Newcomer C Michael Nickeas threw out his first baserunner in his Bisons debut yesterday in Rochester.