The Herd has come alive in the month of June, posting a .275 (213-775) team batting average in the month. That’s 2nd best in the IL behind only Rochester (.284) but Jack Egbert was pitching the best game of his season. Egbert faced just three over the minimum through his season best eight innings while striking out seven.

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Chip Ambres popped his second home run in the first inning… Mike Lamb was held hitless for the first time in 11 games.

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TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons take on the Charlotte Knights in the first game of a four-game set from Coca-Cola Field (7:05 p.m.). The Herd and Knights split a four-game series (June 19-22) in Charlotte. Buffalo took the first two games by outscoring Charlotte 15-4, but the Knights evened the series behind two, one-run victories.

KNIGHT’S NIGHT: RHP Brandon Knight gets the start tonight for the Herd looking to bounce back from a rough outing against Charlotte his last time out, when he gave up seven earned runs in four innings. However, the last time Knight toed the rubber at Coca-Cola Field he delivered a 109-pitch (80 strike) complete game against the Durham Bulls, allowing just one run on six hits. The veteran leads the Bisons pitching staff with 68 strikeouts on the year.

HITTIN’ HERD: The Bisons pounded out 16 hits on Friday night to tie a season high they set on June 19 against the Knights. Buffalo hit .305 as a team and averaged 5.3 runs/game over their recent eight-game roadtrip. The Herd has come alive in the month of June, posting a .275 (213-775) team batting average in the month. That’s 2nd best in the IL behind only Rochester (.284).

SCORING EARLY: The Bisons scored in the 1st inning in five of the eight games on their recent roadtrip (10 total 1st inning runs). The Herd won four of the five games in which they plated a runner in the first inning. Buffalo has scored 38 first inning runs this year, the most in any inning.

FELICIANO FEELIN’ IT: OF Jesus Feliciano has been the Bisons most consistent hitter all season. Feliciano has hit safely in 24 of his last 29 games since May 23. During this stretch, he has averaged .374 (40-107) with eight doubles, 19 RBI and 19 runs scored. The solid month stretch has raised Feliciano’s average 53 points to .313, which is currently 6th best in the International League.

ROSTER MOVES: The Bisons have added INF Wilson Valdez and LHP Jon Switzer to their active roster. Both players were designated for assignment by the Mets. Valdez hit .208 (5-24) in 11 games with New York after being acquired in a trade with Cleveland. Switzer posted an 8.10ERA in four games (3.1IP) with New York after beginning the 2009 campaign with the Herd.

With their solid 7-5 victory over the Gwinnett Braves on Friday night, the Bisons made sure to even things up on many levels. The victory gave the club a split of the first four-game series it ever played in Gwinnett. The win also gave Buffalo a 4-4 split of the season series with the Braves and evened the Herd’s record over their most recent eight-game southern roadtrip at 4-4.

READ: Game recap

BISONS NOTES: The game took three hours and 15 minutes, matching Opening Day as the longest nine-inning game for Buffalo this year…The Bisons defeated their 2008 Pitcher of the Year, John Halama. The veteran southpaw was making his second start with Gwinnett…With two RBI, Feliciano ties Fernando Martinez for tops on the team with 28 this season.

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TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons take on the Gwinnett Braves in the final game of a four-game series from Gwinnett Stadium (7:00 p.m.). The Herd needs to win tonight to earn a split of the set as the G-Braves took the first two games (5-4 and 7-3) and the Bisons won yesterday, 5-1. Buffalo is currently 3-4 on this eight-game roadtrip that wraps up tonight. The Bisons will return home to face the Charlotte Knights at Coca-Cola Field, June 27-30.

vs. THE BRAVES: The Bisons are 3-4 against the Gwinnett Braves so far this season. The two teams split a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field from May 12-15. Prior to the Braves move to Gwinnett, Buffalo posted a 48-38 record against Richmond (.558 winning percentage).

FELICIANO FEELIN’ IT: OF Jesus Feliciano has been the Bisons most consistent hitter all season and had his team-leading 18th multi-hit game last night. Feliciano has hit safely in 23 of his last 28 games since May 23. During this stretch, he has averaged .379 (39-103) with seven doubles, 17 RBI and 19 runs scored. The solid month stretch has raised Feliciano’s average 54 points to .314, which is currently 8th best in the International League.

FITTING IN FINE: INF Luis Rivera has been impressive both in the field and with the bat since joining the Herd on June 3rd from Binghamton. Last night, Rivera was perfect at the plate going 3-3 with two walks. With Buffalo, Rivera is hitting .327 with six runs scored and four RBI through 17 games.

BULLY IN THE PEN: RHP Tim McNab pitched two more scoreless innings in relief last night. Over his last nine appearances, McNab has pitched 11.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. McNab has an impressive 1.29ERA, which leads the Bisons staff among pitchers with at least 20.0 innings of work this year.

NIESE ON A ROLL: LHP Jonathon Niese saw his impressive 24.1 consecutive scoreless innings streak end in the 7th inning of last night’s game. Still, Niese collected his third consecutive victory as he allowed just one run in six innings of work. In his last four starts, the southpaw is 3-1 with a 1.03ERA. He has struck out 25 and allowed just 20 hits in his last 26.1 innings of work.

Jonathon Niese saw one streak come to an end and another streak extended on Thursday night.

Niese’s consecutive scoreless innings streak was snapped at 24.1 innings on a sacrifice fly by Alvin Colina in the bottom of the seventh. But it wasn’t nearly enough as the southpaw picked up his third straight win and the Herd snapped a four-game losing skid with a 5-1 victory over the Gwinnett Braves.

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Jesus Feliciano entered Thursday’s game 10th in the IL with a .311 batting average. Feliciano went 2-for-4 raising his average to .314…. With two runs in the first, the Bisons have scored in the first inning in four of the first seven games of the road trip…Rene Rivera made only his second start at third base this season due to a Mike Lamb illness…INF Argenis Reyes was promoted to the Mets yesterday. Reyes was hitting .296 with 19 runs scored and 13 RBI for the Herd this season…Michel Abreu saw his eight-game hit streak come to an end with an 0-for-5 day at the plate.