Buffalo Bisons
43-40, 3rd(-4.0)
Dillon Gee (7-5, 5.00)

Syracuse Chiefs
47-37), 2nd(-0.5)
Erik Arnesen (2-4, 4.08)

Sunday, July 4, 2010
Alliance Bank Stadium – Syracuse, NY

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons face the Syracuse Chiefs in the first game of a four-game series from Alliance Bank Stadium (6:30 p.m.). The Herd is coming off a 4-1 homestand that included a two-game sweep of the Chiefs, June 29-30. Buffalo also won two of three from Rochester to pull within four games of first place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the IL North division.

vs. THE CHIEFS: The Bisons are 3-5 in the first eight games against Syracuse this season. The Herd won only one of the first six contests before a two-game sweep of the Chiefs at Coca-Cola Field, June 29-30. Buffalo is 0-2 at Alliance Bank Stadium this year and 2-8 in Syracuse since last season.

GOLLY GEE: RHP DILLON GEE is coming off maybe his best start of the season. The righty allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings of work on Tuesday against Syracuse. He struck out six in that start and now has 85 punchouts this season -6th most in the International League. The last time a Bisons pitcher fanned 100 batters in a season was RHP HYANG-NAM CHOI, who struck out 103 during the 2006 campaign.

PADDING STATS: OF JORGE PADILLA enters tonight’s game on a seven-game hit streak. In the last week, the outfielder has averaged .429 (12-28) with three doubles, five RBI and seven runs scored. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Padilla was 5-8 (.625) with three doubles and four RBI in two games against his former team, Syracuse. Padilla hit .367 (114-311) with 25 extra-base hits in 95 games with the Chiefs last season.

BULLY FOR THE PEN: RHP MANNY ACOSTA has been all but unhittable of late. The reliever has given up just two hits over his last seven appearances. Since June 20, Acosta has allowed only five base runners while striking out 11 in 7.2 innings of work. Acosta has converted his last three saves opportunities.

BULLY FOR THE PEN 2: RHP JOSE DE LA TORRE has been equally impressive. The reliever has also given the Herd seven consecutive scoreless appearances since June 15. Since then, De La Torre has not issued a walk and struck out nine in his last seven innings of work.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (45-36) loss to the Nationals, 6-5, yesterday in Washington. Former Bisons RHP R.A. DICKEY allowed just two unearned runs in seven innings but did not earn a decision. C JOSH THOLE had a pair of run-scoring hits for New York, but the Nationals rallied for three in the ninth for the win. The Mets take on Washington again today at 1:35 p.m.

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The Buffalo Bisons saw their four-game win streak snapped tonight as they were dealt a 1-0 loss by the Rochester Red Wings at Coca-Cola Field.

The 17,527 fans that showed up for the Independence Eve Celebration were treated to a pitcher’s duel between Bisons starter Ramon Ortiz and Red Wings left hander Glen Perkins.

During his last start, Ortiz was shelled by Charlotte Knights as he gave up nine earned runs in only a three inning start. Ortiz bounced back with one of the strongest pitching performances from a Bisons starter in today’s game however. The right hander tossed six and one third innings while only giving up four hits and one run while striking out seven batters.

Ortiz was never threatened by the Red Wings until he got himself into trouble in the seventh inning. After walking Red Wings right fielder Brian Dinkelman catcher Jose Morales to load the bases Ortiz was relieved by Jose De La Torre. De La Torre has been excellent in his past six relief appearances by not allowing a run in the last five and two thirds innings. The reliever came in a tough spot and unfortunately made one mistake by hitting designated hitter Brendan Harris with the base paths full to send home first baseman Brock Peterson. De La Torre would then induce an inning ending 5-4-3 double play to get out of the inning but the Red Wings had struck first and it would prove to be the game winning run.

On the other side of the ball the Red Wings received a great start from Perkins. Perkins, who had a 1-8 record before today’s game bested Ortiz as he threw six and two thirds innings and only gave up three hits while allowing no runs.

The Herd’s bats were silent tonight as they only collected five hits as a team. The Bisons only had one man get to second base when J.R House reached in the seventh inning.

Buffalo had a chance to steal the game in the ninth when designated hitter Mike Jacobs led off the inning with a single to center field to start the inning.

First baseman Valentino Pascucci followed Jacobs and struck out swinging. Right fielder Fernando Martinez was the Bisons last hope but he could not recreate the magic of June 14th when he hit a walk-off grand slam. F-Mart grounded into a game ending 4-6-3 double play as the Bisons to hand the Herd a 1-0 loss.

As Buffalo saw their four-game winning streak end, they also saw another more historic streak come to an end tonight. Left fielder Lucas Duda failed to homer as he has done so in the past five games by going 0-3. Duda now stands with Andy Marte, Ollie Carnegie, Carlos Garcia and Bill Selby as the only members of the Bisons to hit four baggers in five straight games.

With the loss the Bisons now see their record drop to 43-40 while the Red Wings improve to 30-54.

BISONS NOTES: After going 4-1 on their five game home stand, the Bisons will now travel to Syracuse for a four game road trip against the Chiefs. The Bisons will send Dillon Gee (7-5, 5.00 ERA) to the mound to take on Erik Arnesen 2-4 (4.08 ERA) tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m.

BISONS:
Justin Turner, 2B
Luis Hernandez, SS
Jorge Padilla, CF
Mike Jacobs, DH
Valentino Pascucci, 1B
Fernando Martinez, RF
Mike Cervenak, 3B
Lucas Duda, LF
JR House, C

Ramon Ortiz, RHP

RED WINGS:
Dustin Martin, CF
Trevor Plouffe, 3B
Jacque Jones, LF
Brock Peterson, 1B
Brian Dinkelman, CF
Jose Morales, C
Brendan Harris, DH
Matt Macri, 2B
Toby Gardenhire, SS

Glen Perkins, LHP

Left fielder Lucas Duda has only played 16 games as a member of the Herd, but in that short time he has already left his imprint on the Bisons history books.

Duda homered in his fifth straight game tonight in a 12-4 win against the Rochester Red Wings at Coca-Cola Field. The Triple-A rookie crushed a 1-2 pitch from Red Wings starter Anthony Swarzak deep to right-center field in the third inning.

With a home run in five consecutive games, Duda is only the fifth Bison in the 125-year history of the franchise to accomplish the feat. Duda joins Bisons greats Andy Marte, Ollie Carnegie, Carlos Garcia and Bill Selby as the only other players to do so.

Duda’s sixth homer of the season was good enough to give the Herd a 5-2 lead early in the game. That lead would be one the Herd would be one they would not relinquish and build on often throughout the game.

The left fielder was not the only Bison leaving the yard tonight however. In the fourth inning right fielder Fernando Martinez also went deep, this time to center field. The two run blast was Martinez’s fifth homer of the season.

The Herd had the bats on full throttle tonight totaling 12 runs and 13 hits. The Bisons reached double digit runs for the tenth time this season due to RBI from five different players. Duda and first baseman Mike Jacobs led the way with three apiece while Martinez chipped in two.

While the story for the Herd tonight was the outburst of offense, the performance of their pitching staff should not be overlooked. Starting pitcher and All-Star Pat Misch gave the Bisons another quality start. In his 16th start of the season, the left hander went seven strong innings, giving up seven hits and four runs with only two of them being earned. He also struck out five batters. Misch picked up his eighth win of the season and continues to lead the IL for wins from a left hander.

The win for the Herd now improves their record to 43-39 while Rochester drops to 30-53. The Bisons also pulled to within 3.5 games of the Syracuse Chiefs for the lead in the IL North.

Earlier tonight:
The New York Mets today announced that they have signed RHP BRIAN BRUNEY to a minor league contract. He has been assigned to the Bisons and will report to the team in the coming days.

Bruney, 28, went 1-2 with a 7.64ERA (15ER, 17.1 innings) in 19 games with the Washington Nationals earlier this year. The Nationals designated Bruney for assignment on May 17. The 6-3, 235-pounder was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers to a minor league contract on June 17. He appeared in two games, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings for Triple-A Nashville of the Pacific Coast League, before being released on June 22.

Bruney is 17-12 with 13 saves in 249 major league games with Arizona, the Yankees and Washington. He has recorded 234 strikeouts over 239.0 career innings and has held lefties to a .225 (82-365) career batting average against. Bruney went 12-3 with one save a 3.25ERA (52 earned runs/144.0 innings) with the Yankees from 2006-2009.

The native of Astoria, Ore. was 5-0 with a 3.92ERA (17 earned runs/39.0 innings) and 36 strikeouts last year for the Yankees.

BISONS:
Justin Turner, 2B
Luis Hernandez, SS
Jorge Padilla, CF
Mike Jacobs, 1B
Fernando Martinez, RF
Mike Cervenak, 3B
Lucas Duda, 3B
Russ Adams, DH
JR House, C

Pat Misch, LHP

RED WINGS:
Brian Dinkelman, LF
Trevor Plouffe, DH
Jacque Jones, CF
Brock Peterson, 1B
Brendan Harris, 3B
Matt Macri, RF
D’Angelo Jimenez, 2B
Wil Ramos, C
Toby Gardenhire, SS

Anthony Swarzak, RHP