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TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons host the Syracuse Chiefs in the first game of a four-game series from Coca-Cola Field (6:05 p.m.). The Herd is coming off a 1-4 roadtrip to Syracuse and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this past week. That first roadtrip included a three-game sweep by the Chiefs at Alliance Bank Stadium in a rain-shortened series, April 17-20.

HOME SWEET HOME: Back from their first roadtrip of the season, the Bisons will now play in front of their hometown fans in 24 of their next 34 games. The Herd doesn’t leave Coca-Cola Field for more than 4 games until they head down to Durham and Norfolk starting May 29. The stretch of home games includes the only visits of the year for 4 opponents, Louisville (April 30-May 3), Norfolk (May 8-11), Gwinnett (May 12-15) and Columbus (May 21-24).

F-MART: OF Fernando Martinez collected two more hits on Wednesday night in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, his sixth multi-hit performance already this season. Martinez leads the Herd with a .291 average and tops all International League batters with eight doubles and 10 extra-base hits. He has hit in eight of his last nine games with the Bisons, averaging .333 (13-39) since April 13.

ANOTHER GOOD KNIGHT: RHP Brandon Knight will be making his second appearance against Syracuse this year. Last Saturday, Knight struck out eight Chiefs and walked just one in six innings of work. Knight’s 15 strikeouts are one off the team lead (Dillon Gee, 16). As a staff, the Bisons rank 4th in the International League with 111 strikeouts in 13 games.

GLOVE WORK: The Bisons turned four more double plays over their most recent roadtrip. The team leads the International League with 16 twin killings. Highlighting the infield has been first basemen Michel Abreu and Nick Evans. The two have split time so far this year and both have been perfect in the field.

THRUWAY CUP: Today is the first Thruway Series game to be played at Coca-Cola Field this year. The Rochester Red Wings (3-1) have the early lead. Syracuse (4-3) is in 2nd place, a half game behind the Wings. The Bisons (0-3) are in third place, but will play in the next six Thruway Series games.

Before getting downtown today, I went to visit with the students at Buffalo School 33 during their fourth annual Career Fair. Marshall, shown in the picture with me is a huge Bisons fan and welcomed me to the event.

The students arrived with great questions and a thirst for knowledge from everyone they spoke to this morning. Among the more credentialed presenters included servicemen, doctors and lawyers. Oh yeah, and the guy that watches baseball games for a living.

I had my own education from a few tables too. I saw how tires are made and got the closest to a skunk I have ever been, without a dose of “Prairie Perfume!”

The Herd return downtown tonight and a few students gave me questions to ask Bisons Manager Ken Oberkfell in our pregame conversation. Coverage starts at 5:35 p.m.

Excellent job by the students and staff to organize, execute an event in great detail and with TONS of enthusiasm.

~ Ben Wagner

It’s a final from Moosic, PA. On a rainy night, a former Bisons MVP reigned over the Herd. Todd Linden doubled, homered and drove in three as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees bested the Bisons, 6-1.

Read all about the game by clicking HERE

Bisons fans new Linden was better than the .140 average he sported when the Yankees came through Coca-Cola Field. The switch-hitting slugger now has three homeruns in his last five games, finding a grove in the middle of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lineup.

For Buffalo, Fernando Martinez continued to swing a hot bat with two more hits and a double. He leads the International League with eight two-baggers on the season.

Freddy Garcia was solid on the mound, giving Buffalo a quality start. He allowed just three runs on five hits in six innings.

We off to the bus now…a nice little drive through the night back home to Buffalo. See you at Coca-Cola field for the fridaynightbash! We hear the weather should be fantastic!

Follow the Herd:
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Bisons Baseball Network: CLICK HERE!
Email the Broadcast Team: CLICK HERE!
Everything about the Herd: CLICK HERE!
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TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons take on Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in the final game of a two-game series from PNC Field (7:05 p.m.). The Herd is looking for the sweep of the two games after defeating the Yanks last night, 7-3. The Bisons are now 1-3 on their rain-shortened five-game roadtrip that ends today. After an off-day on Thursday, the Bisons will open up a four-game series against the Syracuse Chiefs back at Coca-Cola Field.

HERE’S FREDDY: RHP Freddy Garcia makes his 2009 debut today. The two-time American League All-Star missed most of last season recovering from labrum surgery on his right shoulder. Garcia has a career major league record of 118-77 with a 4.07ERA in 266 games. He won 13 or more games in seven seasons, including an 18-6 record with Seattle in 2001. That year, he led the American League with a 3.05ERA.

IN THE CLUTCH: Four of the Bisons seven runs last night came with two outs. OF Fernando Martinez got the Herd on the board with a two-out, two-run single in the 3rd inning. INF Michel Abreu and OF Jason Cooper added insurance with back-to-back two-out RBI-singles in the 8th inning. As a team, Buffalo was 3-8 (.375) with runners in scoring position last night.

THE BIG THREE: Twenty of the Bisons 38 runs this year have been driven in by three players. INF Nick Evans and INF Michel Abreu both collected RBI last night to remain tied for the team lead with 7RBI on the season. OF Fernando Martinez knocked in three against the Yankees to give him 6RBI this year.

COOP-A-LOOP: OF Jason Cooper is approaching another team milestone. ‘Coop drove in his first run of the year last night, giving him 223RBI in a Bisons uniform. He is now just 22RBI shy of Bill Selby’s team record of 245. Cooper has hit in all three games since being activated with a .273 (3-11) average. His Bisons Modern Era record for games played is now at 413.

METS SIGN PENA: On Monday, the Mets signed OF Wily Mo Pena to a minor league contract. He is scheduled to report to extended spring training in Port St. Lucie before eventually joining the Herd. Pena batted .205 (40-195) with two homeruns and 10RBI in 64 games with the Nationals in 2008.

As we first told you Tuesday night during “Countdown to Bisons Baseball” – Freddy Garcia will start Wednesday night at 7:05 for the Bisons against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, who will have Phil Hughes on the mound.

You’ll hear Garcia’s thoughts on how the past few weeks have gone for the former All Star and where he feels he can end up by the time the season is over. “Countdown to Bisons Baseball” begins at 6:35 p.m. prior to the first pitch.

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!

~ Ben Wagner