Before we get into the match up tonight, I went to visit with Yankees manager Dave Miley shortly after arriving at PNC Field today. Earlier this week, he joined the team for the first time following his son’s, Cody, death. He was extremely grateful for the outpouring of support during the last two weeks. You could tell how touched he was from all the calls, cards and prayers from everyone in the league and those specifically from the Bisons’ extended family.

The Yankees/Bisons series this year has been dominated by the home teams winning nine of the 11 matchups. Buffalo is 4-1 at Dunn Tire Park against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but only 1-5 at PNC Field. The Bisons next seven games are against their division rivals headed towards the IL playoffs. Buffalo has a winning record of 13-12 against Scranton/WB and Pawtucket.

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in the first game of a five-game home-and-home series (7:00 p.m.) The first two games of the set will be at PNC Field before shifting to Dunn Tire Park for the Herd’s final three home games of the 2008 season. The Bisons are coming off a two-game split in Syracuse and have won six of their last nine games. On the mound for Buffalo will be LHP Scott Lewis. The southpaw collected his first Triple-A win on Tuesday against Lehigh Valley. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will counter with RHP Alfredo Aceves.

TODAY’S STARTER: Scott Lewis
-Last Game: 8/19 vLHV: (W, 6.0IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 4K), Bisons’ 10-1 win.
-2008 w / Bisons: (1-1, 4.50ERA)(2GS, 10.0IP, 11H, 6R, 5ER, 4BB, 7K)
-2008 w/ Akron: (6-2, 2.33ERA)(13GS, 73.1IP, 62H, 22R, 19ER, 9BB, 61K).
-2007 w/ Akron: (7-9, 3.68)(27G, 25GS, 134.2IP, 135H, 58R, 55ER, 34BB, 121K).
-2006 w/ Kinston: (3-3, 1.48)(26G, 26GS, 115.2IP, 84H, 24R, 19ER, 28BB, 123K).
-2006 VYTORIN Most Spectacular Pitcher Award -lowest ERA in domestic leagues.
-Selected in the 3rd round (77th overall) of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.

WIN #1: LHP Scott Lewis earned his first Bisons win on Tuesday when he allowed just one run on three hits in six innings. He also struck out four and walked just one. Lewis was promoted from Double-A Akron on August 14 after going 6-2 with a 2.33ERA in 13 starts with the Aeros. Overall on the season, Lewis has walked just 13 batters in 83.1 innings of work.

HARD HISTORY: The Bisons are now eight-games under .500 with nine games left, meaning they must run the table to avoid finishing with a losing record. The Herd has not finished a campaign under .500 since going 55-89 during the 1994 season. In the modern era (1985), the Bisons have finished with a losing record in only four of 23 seasons.

BISONS BITS: The grand slam by C Chris Gimenez last night was the Herd’s second on the year. INF Morgan Ensberg hit a slam on July 27 in Charlotte…on their rehab assignments, C Victor Martinez has hit .222 (2-9, 2R, 2B, 2RBI, 3BB) and DH Travis Hafner has hit .400 (4-10, 2R, 2 2B, 3RBI, 2BB)…RHP Bubbie Buzachero has converted his last seven save opportunities…INF Andy Cannizaro has reached base in 16 of his 17 games with the Bisons.

Buffalo took the opener in Syracuse Friday night and has a chance to pick up a two game sweep over the Cheifs AND jump forward in the IL North standings with a win tonight.

Southpaw David Huff has only had two “un-Huff-like” outings since his promotion to the Bisons. After a rough start versus Lehigh Valley he battled back and allowed two runs against the IronPigs in the next two starts. In the first meeting against Syracuse, Huff allowed four earned runs in six innings. It’s only the second time this season that he’s allowed that many runs in any start. Think he’s motivated tonight? Ask Lehigh Valley what the last two starts have been like?

HUFF’S STATS PAGE: CLICK HERE

Huff, has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last seven starts. Since July 11, the southpaw is 3-2 with a 1.69ERA (32.0IP, 6ER). Over that same span, he has struck out 30 and allowed just 22 hits. Since joining the Herd in early June, Huff has yet to yield more than four earned runs in any of his 14 starts.

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons take on the Syracuse Chiefs in the second game of a two-game series from Alliance Bank Stadium (7:00 p.m.). The Bisons will look for the two-game sweep following last night’s 6-3 victory. Buffalo has now won six of their last eight games as well as eight of their last 12 road games. Tonight, LHP David Huff will take the mound for the Herd. The southpaw struck out eight IronPigs in 5.2 innings on Monday to collect his fifth win of the season. Syracuse will counter with LHP Brett Cecil.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: David Huff
-Last Game: 8/18 vLHV: (W, 5.2IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 8K), Bisons’ 5-1 Win.
-2008 w/ Bisons: (5-4, 2.83)(14GS, 70.0IP, 56H, 26R, 22ER, 13BB, 73K).
-2008 w/ Akron (AA): (5-1, 1.92)(11G, 10GS, 65.2IP, 44H, 17R, 14ER, 14BB, 62K)
-2007 w/ Kinston (A): (4-1, 2.72)(11GS, 59.2IP, 57H, 23R, 18ER, 15BB, 46K).
-2007 Carolina League All-Star, missed second half of season (left elbow strain).
-2006 w/ Mahoning Valley (A): (0-1, 5.87)(4GS, 7.2IP, 9H, 5R, 5ER, 8K).
-Drafted by Cleveland in the 1st round (39th overall) of the 2006 MLB Draft

HANGING WITH COOPER: OF Jason Cooper has been outstanding this month. The outfielder has seven hits in his last nine at-bats and is now hitting .424 (14-33) with eight extra-base hits in 13 games in August. Last night, he hit his 19th triple in his five-year Bisons career, one shy of the modern era record set by INF Joe Inglett. On Tuesday night, Cooper played in his 401st game with the team to break that modern era record. Cooper is now at 403 games with the team and counting.

HOT HITTER: OF Todd Linden has hit in 12 of his last 13 games with a .367 (18-49) batting average since August 7. He has added six doubles, four home runs and eight RBI in those 13 games. Linden’s 13 home runs and 47 walks are currently tops on the team, and his 47RBI are second. On the year, Linden has averaged .341 (31-91) with runners in scoring position.

BISONS BITS: On their rehab assignments, C Victor Martinez has hit .400 (2-5, 2R, 2B, 2RBI, 3BB) and DH Travis Hafner has hit .400 (4-10, 2R, 2 2B, 3RBI, 2BB)…RHP Bubbie Buzachero has converted his last seven save opportunities…INF Andy Cannizaro has hit in 14 of his 16 games with the Bisons, hitting .309 (17-55) with 13 runs and 11RBI.

In the end there was still a medal sparkling in the sun that belonged to team USA. Although aspirations were much higher when the club departed for the Olympic Games there are thousands of athletes that left Beijing with nothing.

Just 15 hours after being knocked out of a chance to play for a gold medal, USA Baseball had to rebound from a short turn around and then erase a 4-1 Japanese lead for a chance to stand on the podium.

They did just that while adding a little insurance in the bronze medal game against Japan, winning 8-4 in Beijing, China.

In an upset, South Korea claims the gold from heavily favored Cuba following the U.S. win.

USA Baseball Game Story: CLICK HERE!
NBC Olympics Game Story: CLICK HERE!
MLB.com Game Story: CLICK HERE!

Here are a few links to track USA Baseball from Beijing:
USA Baseball: CLICK HERE!
MLB.com: CLICK HERE!
NBC Sports: CLICK HERE!

BEIJING (AP) — In one game-breaking inning against the Americans, Cuba demonstrated exactly why it has been so dominant on the world baseball stage for decades.

The U.S. team will find no gold in Beijing. And the Cubans are back in the very place the know so well — playing for an Olympic title.

GAME RECAP: CLICK HERE!

“Playing for bronze isn’t what we came here for, but it’s what we’re doing now,” said American reliever Jeff Stevens, on the mound as Cuba started the eighth-inning onslaught. “We want to bring home a medal. We don’t want to leave here empty-handed. Japan’s thinking the same thing.”

Here are a few links to track USA Baseball from Beijing:
USA Baseball: CLICK HERE!
MLB.com: CLICK HERE!
NBC Sports: CLICK HERE!

What’s left for Team USA:

Aug 23 Olympic Medal Round – USA plays for Bronze

The Bisons return to the road after going 5-3 on an eight-game homestand. While the Bisons love playing in front of the home town crowd, you can’t help but notice the recent success for this club on the road, winning seven of their last 11 road games.

A few notable’s prior to the News & Notes concerning “Rehab Central” as the Bisons enter Salt City. Josh Barfield is back in the lineup and playing in the field tonight and Travis Hafner returns from his off day to bat in the cleanup slot as the DH in the series opener. (Victor Martinez is scheduled for an off day)

Tonight’s contest is the first road game for Buffalo since August 11 (5-4 loss at Lehigh Valley) and only their sixth away from Dunn Tire Park this month.

Today’s News & Notes

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons travel to Syracuse to open a two-game set with the Chiefs at Alliance Bank Stadium. RHP Bryan Bullington will take the mound for the Herd. The righty will be looking to rebound after taking the loss against Pawtucket on August 17. Syracuse will counter with LHP John Parrish.

TODAY’S STARTER:Bryan Bullington
-Last Game: 8/17 vPAW: (L, 5.0IP, 10H, 6R, 5ER, 3BB, 6K), Bisons’ 8-3 Loss.
-2008 w/Bisons: (0-2, 5.56, 1SV)(7G, 5GS, 34.0IP, 41H, 24R, 21ER, 8BB, 34K).
-2008 w/Indianapolis: (4-6, 5.52)(15GS, 75.0IP, 90H, 54R, 46ER, 25BB, 60K).
-2007 w/Indianapolis: (11-9, 4.00)(26GS, 150.2IP, 146H, 70R, 67ER, 59BB, 89K)
-2007 w/Indianapolis: 1st in starts (26), innings (150.2), wins (11).
-Originally a first overall pick in 2002 by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
-Claimed off waivers by Cleveland, July 10, 2008.

EVERYDAY ANDY: Since joining the Herd on August 4, INF Andy Cannizaro has been a key part of the team’s offense. Cannizaro has hit in 14 of 16 games with the Herd and has failed to reach base in a game just once. The middle infielder displayed his all-around game yesterday afternoon, when he went 1-2 with two walks and two runs scored. In 16 games with the Herd, Cannizaro is hitting .309 (17-55) with 13 runs, three doubles, two home runs, 11RBI and five walks.

HOT IN THE PEN: The trio of LHP Rich Rundles, RHP Preston Larrison and RHP Tom Mastny has been a force in the bullpen as of late. All three enter tonight with impressive streaks of not allowing an earned run (Rundles -12G, Larrison -8G, Mastny -6G). In the month of August, the three have pitched a combined 23 games and own a 0.00ERA (22.1IP, 19K, 4BB).

HOT HITTER: OF Todd Linden has hit in 11 of his last 12 games, owning a .356 (16-45) batting average during a span that dates back to August 7. He has added six doubles, four home runs and eight RBI in those 12 games. Linden’s 13 home runs and 46 walks are currently tops on the team, and his 47RBI are second to OF Brad Snyder’s 60.

BISONS BITS: The Bisons turned four double plays in yesterday’s 7-3 loss to Pawtucket, the highest single-game total of the season…C Victor Martinez is hitting .400 (2-5, 2R, 2B, 2RBI, 3BB) while DH Travis Hafner has averaged .600 (3-5, R, 2 2B, 2RBI, 2BB) in their two rehab starts with the Bisons…INF Michael Aubrey has 5RBI in his last three games.