The Buffalo Bisons extended their winning streak to four games when they beat the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs by a score of 7-3 tonight at Coca-Cola Field.

In his fourth game with the Herd, first baseman Nick Evans set the pace for Buffalo’s offense this evening. Coming into today’s game with only three RBI in three games, Evans had four RBI in tonight’s contest. His four RBI came way by two two-run doubles he had in the first and fifth inning. Evans’ two-run double in the first inning gave the Bisons an early lead they would not relinquish.

On the bump tonight, Bisons starter Dillon Gee set the tone early by striking out the first two batters he faced and three of the first four. Gee gave Buffalo his 13th quality start of the year when he went 6.2 innings while giving up seven hits and only three runs. Gee also struck out five to bring his season total to 123.

With his five punch-outs Gee has jumped Randy Kramer for the third spot on the list of most strikeouts in a single season for the Bisons. Gee is now only 14 behind Vicente Palacios for the most in team history. His 123 strikeouts are also good enough for a tie atop the IL league leaders along with Jeremy Hellickson of the Durham Bulls.

Picking up the victory tonight, Gee has also reached the illustrious ten win mark and now stands at 10-7 for the season. He has joined Pat Misch as the first pair of Bisons teammates to both reach the double-digit mark in wins since 2004.

In 2004, the same year the Herd won the IL Championship, Kyle Denney (10-5) and Jack Cressend (10-1) were the last set of Bisons hurlers to get to the ten win mark. The Herd also now have two pitchers with ten wins after going four seasons without a pitcher to reach that mark. Jeremy Guthrie in 2005 was the last pitcher for Buffalo to do so when he went 12-10.

Entering the eighth inning the Bisons were ahead of Lehigh Valley 5-3 and added two insurance runs thanks to a pinch-hit home run from Russ Adams. Hitting for reliever Sean Green, Adams hit his eighth homer of the year that on a ball that just cleared the wall in right field. He’s the first Bison to hit a pinch-hit home run since Valentino Pascucci hit one back on July 15th against Gwinnett.

After taking the four-run lead, thanks to Adams, Jose De La Torre came in the game to seal the deal. After giving up a leadoff single in the ninth, De La Torre settled down and retired the next three batters to secure the win.

The victory over the Iron Pigs is now the fourth straight win for the Herd and their fifth consecutive over Lehigh Valley. The Bisons are now 7-4 against the Iron Pigs this season and with the win they improve to 56-53 for the year.

BISONS NOTES: The Bisons will finish up their four-game series with the Iron Pigs tomorrow night when Tobi Stoner (5-9, 6.04 ERA) faces Brian Mazone (5-11, 3.97 ERA) in the finale of the set. The Bisons will then have an off day and start another four-game home series with the Columbus Clippers starting Thursday.

It may have took a extra innings and a close play at the plate at Coca-Cola Field, but the Bisons got their third straight win thanks to a Nick Evans single in the bottom of the tenth to get the 2-1 win over the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

After having the first two batters of the tenth strike out, Jorge Padilla kept Buffalo’s hopes alive when he singled to left to extend the inning. Valentino Pascucci drew a four pitch walk to bring Evans up to bat. Evans swung a hot bat all night and was 2-4 with a double and a single prior to his plate appearance in the tenth.

Iron Pigs pitcher Michael Schwimmer put the first pitch to Evans in the dirt. Evans received a pitch to hit after and took full advantage of it. He ripped a sharp liner to left fielder Chris Aguila. Padilla, who was on second base got a good jump on the ball and looked like he was going to score easily. Rounding third base however Padilla stumbled a little on the bag making the play at the plate a lot closer than originally thought. Padilla recovered nicely though and beat the throw from Aguila to give the Bisons the win in bonus baseball.

The Herd however, would not have taken the game to extra innings if it had not been for Fernando Martinez. In the seventh inning with the Bisons trailing 1-0, F-Mart got his team on the board when he swatted his 12th homer of the season off of Iron Pigs starting pitcher Vance Worley. Martinez wasted no time as he took the first offering from Worley and crushed it deep to right center field to knot the game up at one apiece.

Worley gave the Iron Pigs a quality start as he tossed 7.2 innings while only giving up five hits and the one run by way of F-Mart’s home run.

For the Herd Fernando Nieve gave Buffalo 3.2 innings in his go-around tonight. Nieve was a reliever with the Mets and was on designated assignment in Buffalo and needed to be stretched out, thus his short outing tonight. Nieve made good work in his 65 pitch start by giving up two hits and the lone run Lehigh Valley would score on the night.

The bullpen for the Herd picked up the extra amount of innings with ease. After getting a good deal of rest when Ramon Ortiz went the distance Friday night and Pat Misch got through eight innings last night, the pen mowed down the bats of Lehigh Valley. Combining to throw 6.1 innings, Jose De La Torre, Mike O’Connor, Chad Cordero and Ryota Igarashi allowed three hits and no runs.

With their winning streak the Herd now improve their record to 55-53 while the Iron Pigs drop to 44-65 on the season.

The Herd defeated the visiting Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 4-1 behind a dominant start from Bisons lefty and lone All-Star Pat Misch.

Misch had one of his best starts of the season tonight when he tossed eight innings of shutout baseball while only giving up three hits and striking out seven batters. Misch retired the first ten batters of the contest before giving up a single to Iron Pigs center fielder John Mayberry Jr.

Following the single to Mayberry Jr. Misch then retired the next 12 batters he saw before giving up back to back singles to catcher Dane Sardinha and shortstop Brian Bocock in the eighth inning.

With the win, Misch is now 10-4 for the year, finally getting that elusive tenth victory and making him the first Bisons pitcher since Jeremy Guthrie (12-10) did it in 2005 to reach the double digit mark in wins. Dillon Gee (9-7) will get the chance to join Misch and Guthrie as double digit winners when he takes on the Iron Pigs Monday night.

Jorge Padilla got the offense going for the Herd in the second inning when he singled home Nick Evans to put the Bisons on the board. A Ruben Tejada force out would drive home another run in the second giving the Bisons all the runs they would need for the night.

Buffalo added two more insurance runs in the sixth inning after Evans hit a bloop single to right field that was able to drop due to the Iron Pigs infield playing shallow. Evans’ single was good enough to score Lucas Duda and Padilla would get Evans home when he hit his 15th double of the year later in the inning.

The Iron Pigs finally generated some offense in the ninth inning following Misch’s departure. Lehigh Valley got two hits in the final frame and avoided being shut out when Ozzie Chavez scored from third off of a Mayberry Jr. force out but ultimately were defeated by Buffalo, 4-1.

The Bisons are now 54-53 on the season and 5-4 versus the Iron Pigs. Lehigh Valley drops to 44-64.

BISONS NOTES: The Bisons will try to keep their hot streak going tomorrow night when Fernando Nieve takes on Iron Pigs righty Vance Worley at 7:05 p.m. There will be a post game Bisons Home Run Derby as the Herd looks to bombard Oak Street with long balls. A fireworks show will also follow the derby.

vs. THE IRONPIGS: The Bisons and IronPigs have split each 4-game series so far in the 16-game season series. The two clubs split a four-game set in Lehigh Valley, May 22-25. In Buffalo, June 12-15, Lehigh Valley took the opening two games before the Bisons offense powered back to win the final two games. In their brief existence, the IronPigs hold the 22-18 advantage over the Bisons. Buffalo had won two of the previous four sets played here at Coca-Cola Field.

UPCOMING PROBABLES FOR LEHIGH VALLEY AT BUFFALO:
SAT: LHP Joe Savery (1-8, 5.03) vs. LHP Pat Misch (9-4, 3.44)
SUN: RHP Vance Worley (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Fernando Nieve (NR)
MON: RHP Brandon Duckworth (5-3, 3.38) vs. RHP Dillon Gee (9-7, 4.92)
TUE: LHP Brian Mazone (5-11, 3.78) vs. RHP Tobi Stoner (5-9, 6.04)

PIG TAILS FROM THE LEHIGH VALLEY:
DOWN TURN: The ‘Pigs have dropped five straight games after winning six of seven; and went to 2-6 on this eight-game, South Division homestand. Durham, which owns the best record in the International League, is now riding a 9-game winning streak.

NOTHING SWEET HERE: The I-Pigs were swept at home for the first time since 4/9/09-4/12/09 vs. SWB (opening series of ’09). The only other teams to sweep LHV in 4 G at home: PAW (6/14/08-6/17/08; 8/24/08-8/27/08) & SWB (7/17/08-7/20/08). Lehigh Valley is back to a season-low, 19-G below .500 and a season-high 18.0 GB in the North. The ‘Pigs have not been more than 34.0 games below and 18.0 GB since they ended ’08 at 55-89, 33.0 GB.

WHO’S HOT (BATTING): 1B Andy Tracy has hit in 2 of 3 G in the series (4-10, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB) after and 0-14 skid… OF John Mayberry snapped an 0-15 skid with his game-tying HR in 9th yesterday. He has hit safely in 12 of his last 16 G (.338-2-10; 22-65, 4 2B, 11 R), … SS Brian Bocock (see below) has hit in 14 of last 17 G (20-60, .333-3-15)… In his last 11 G, OF Chris Aguila is .325-1-4 (13-40, 4 2B, 5 R, 2 BB)… INF Ozzie Chavez has hit in 12 of 16 G (20-67, .299-4-9, 10 R)…

WHO’S HOT (PITCHING): LHP Antonio Bastardo has not allowed a R in 12 G w/ LHV (3 SV, 0.00, 10.1 ip, 2 h, 3 bb, 16 k) — retiring his last 20 BF… RHP Michael Schwimer started his Triple-A career with 7 scoreless appearances (8.1 IP) and is unscored upon in 8 of 9 G — going 2-1, 0.79, 2 H (11.1 ip, 6 h, er, 3 bb, 7 k)… In 4 G since coming off the DL, RHP Brian Gordon is 0-1, 1.17 ( 7.2 ip, 6 h, er, 7 k)… RHP Vance Worley went 6.0 scoreless IP in his LHV debut on 7/27 — giving him 24.0 consecutive scoreless IP combined in his last 4 G (2 w/ REA, 1 relief appearance w/ PHI, 1 w/ LHV)…

THE MIGHTY TRACY: 2010 I.L. All-Star 1B Andy Tracy is batting .323-6-27 (42-130, 12 2B, 23 R) in his last 39 G… Since his return from the DL on 5/27, Tracy is batting .326-11-42 in 55 G (58-178, 14 2B, 2 3B, 33 R, 35 BB, HBP)… Traditionally a slow starter, the Bowling Green alum has also hit .313-12-45 since May 4 (67-214, 17 2B, 3 3B, 39 BB), raising his AVG from .198… In month of June in his LHV career (3 seasons): .364-15-63 in 83 G (100-275, 29 2B, 2 3B, 57 BB, 41 R)

500 ALLERGY: The ‘Pigs have only been at .500 for just two times in LHV history… and they still have never been above .500 in 392 games… In fact, the Phillies Triple-A affiliate has not been above .500 since Ottawa was 22-21 on 5/24/07 — a span
of 492 games (3 years, 2 months, 6 days)… Since that point, the teams have combined to go 202-290 (.411).

HUPPERT CLIMBING CHARTS: With Lehigh Valley’s 5-1 win 5/31/09, ‘Pigs skipper Dave Huppert earned his 1,500th career MiLB win since starting his managerial career in 1986. With a record of 1,551-1,376, ‘Hupp’ entered the season ranked 3rd among all active managers in wins behind (1) Round Rock’s Marc Bombard [entered season 1,706-1,541] and (2) Orem’s Tom Kotchman [entered 1,584-1,327]. Unofficially, the record for Minor League wins is held by Stan Wasiak 2,530.

6/15/10: BUF 7, LHV 3
GAME STORY: Bisons hit for split

6/14/10: BUF 7, LHV 6
GAME STORY: A grand finish

6/13/10: LHV 10, BUF 1
GAME STORY: I-Pigs roll in win

6/12/10: LHV 6, BUF 3
GAME STORY: Rain dampens Herd’s return

5/25/10: LHV 2, BUF 1
GAME STORY: IronPigs split with Herd

5/24/10: LHV 6, BUF 3
GAME STORY: Bisons win streak stopped

5/23/10: BUF 6, LHV 4
GAME STORY: Red-Hot Herd win again

5/22/10: BUF 4, LHV 1
GAME STORY: Pitching powers win

The Buffalo Bisons will hold their annual home run derby this Sunday before Herd takes on the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. The Herd and the Clippers got a head start as they treated tonight’s game like a home run derby with the two teams combining to hit eight home runs in a 11-8 Columbus victory at Huntington Park.

The eight home runs from the two teams was the most any game involving the Herd has seen this year. The previous record was when Buffalo and Syracuse combined for six back in early July.

The Clippers got the slugfest going early as Michael Brantley and Josh Rodriguez hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning off of Bisons starter Tobi Stoner. Brantley and Rodriguez’s consecutive homers was the first time a Bisons opponent left the yard in back-to-back fashion since Iron Pigs Andy Tracy and Michael Taylor accomplished the feat back on August 14 of last season.

Lou Marson added another solo home run in the second inning to stretch the lead to 3-0 in favor of the home squad.

The Herd would get two of those runs back in the top half of the third when Valentino Pascucci had a two-run double to score Lucas Duda and Justin Turner to trim Columbus’ lead to one.

In his first game back from the DL, Pascucci looked like he didn’t miss a beat. For the night Pascucci went 2-4 and added his 12th home run of the season in the fifth inning.

Matt McBride swatted another home run when he sent one over the left field fence to bring the lead back to two. In his second at-bat in his Triple-A career, McBride accounted for the fourth solo home run that Stoner gave up on the night.

Making his twentieth start for the Herd this season, Stoner (5-9) didn’t have his best outing. The right hander tossed four innings while giving up nine hits and allowing seven runs to cross the plate.

Columbus broke the game open in the fifth inning when they scored three runs putting them ahead 7-4. Two runs came by way of McBride’s second hit in his Triple-A debut as he had a two-run double with the bases loaded to drive home Rodriguez and Jordan Brown.

While Stoner wasn’t having that great of a day on the mound, second baseman Justin Turner had arguably his best day of the season at the plate. Turner went 4-4 tonight, extending his hit streak to six games and adding two home runs. He was also just a triple shy of the cycle. Turner hit solo home runs in the fifth and seventh innings to bring his season total to six.

The Herd attempted to crawl back in the eighth when Ruben Tejada doubled to score Mike Cervenak and a fielding error from Clippers pitcher Shane Lindsay scored Fernando Martinez and Tejada made it a two-run game. Buffalo could not get any more on the board as Lindsay rebounded to get himself out of the inning and put a stop to the comeback attempt.

The Bisons now drop to 52-53 with the defeat while the Clippers sit at 66-41.

BISONS NOTES: The Herd will try to get back on track as they wrap up their eight game road trip tomorrow against the Clippers. Ramon Ortiz will take on a pitcher still to be announced tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. The Bisons will then return home for an eight game, nine day home stand where they will have four-game series’ with the Iron Pigs and the Clippers.