Saturday, June 4, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) – Coolray Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (26-30, 4th(-9.0), North)
LHP Pat Misch (0-2, 6.46)

Gwinnett Braves (26-28, 2nd(-4.0), South)
RHP Julio Teheran (4-1, 2.36)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons take on the Gwinnett Braves in the second game of a four-game series from Coolray Field (7:05 p.m.). The Bisons earned a 3-2 win in the series opener last night. Buffalo has now won six of its last eight games and eight of 12 dating back to May 22. The Bisons are 3-2 on their current roadtrip that began with a four-game split in Charlotte.

VS. THE BRAVES: The Bisons are 4-1 against the Braves this season. The Herd won three of four in their back-to-back doubleheaders against Gwinnett last weekend at Coca-Cola Field. Dating back to last season, Buffalo has now won seven of its last eight games against the Braves.

HERE’S THE DISH: LHP PAT MISCH is back in the Bisons rotation after a three-week stint with the Mets. The southpaw was designed on May 27 after pitching five relief outings for New York. He allowed seven runs in 5.0 innings, but did earn a win on May 13 in Houston. Misch, who began the season with the Bisons, is 0-2 with a 6.46ERA in four starts for Buffalo in 2011.

ROSTER MOVES: Also joining the Bisons today is LHP MIKE O’CONNOR. The southpaw pitched in nine games with the Mets over the last month, going 0-1 with a 2.70ERA (6.2IP, 5H, 8K). To make roster room, RHP ERIK TURGEON and OF BUBBA BELL have been transferred to Double-A Binghamton.

ZIPPIDY DUDA: OF LUCAS DUDA has been on fire since returning from a two-week stint on the disabled list on May 27. In his last eight games, Duda has averaged .440 (11-25) with a double, five home runs and nine RBI. He now leads the Bisons with eight home runs on the season. The slugger has homered in three of the four games he’s played against Gwinnett this year.

OUR PAL VAL: INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI leads the Bisons with 32RBI on the season, including eight in his last seven games. Pascucci’s 27RBI since May 10 are three more than any other hitter in the International League. In that 23-game span, the slugger has hit .333 with seven doubles, five home runs and 11 runs scored. Pascucci also ranks third in the IL with a .409 on-base percentage.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (26-31) were defeated by the Braves by a 6-3 score last night. Former Bisons LHP JON NIESE allowed just two runs in 7.2 innings, but did not earn a decision. INF JOSE REYES added his N.L.-leading ninth triple in the loss. The Mets host the rival Braves again tonight at 7:10 p.m.

D.J. Carrasco retired the first 14 batters he faced in a dominant performance for a 3-2 pitcher’s duel win to start the Bisons’ four-game road series with the Gwinnett Braves Friday night.

After four perfect innings, Carrasco walked his first base runner, Brandon Hicks, with two outs in the fifth on a full count. The next batter, Shawn Bowman, broke up Carrasco’s no-hitter with a hard ground ball just out of reach for shortstop Luis Figueroa.

On the other side, the Bisons used the long ball to take a slim lead against Braves starter Todd Redmond.

Michael Fisher produced the game’s first run with a solo shot off of Redmond in the third inning. In the sixth, Valentino Pascucci rocked another solo homer over the center-field wall.

Lucas Duda continued the trend with an eighth-inning solo bomb against Redmond.

Carrasco escaped a jam with two base-runners and one out by striking out Hicks and Bowman to end the seventh. In total, the veteran scattered four hits with one earned run over eight and two-thirds innings with three walks and seven strikeouts.

Redmond allowed all three of the Herd’s runs with eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts over eight complete innings before a perfect ninth by reliever Juan Abreu.

Carrasco got a chance to finish the complete-game shutout, setting aside Stefan Gartrell and Jeff Fiorentino before a single by Hicks.

Erik Turgeon, freshly called up from Double-A Binghamton, allowed a two-run homer to Bowman before Bubba Bell made a diving grab to rob J.C. Boscan and end the game.

Game Notes: With the win, Carrasco snapped a two-start losing streak… The righthander has now worked at least five innings in each of his last six starts and allowed three or fewer runs in all of them… The Herd won a home series with the Braves 3-1 last weekend in doubleheaders May 29 and 30… The game took an efficient two hours and 14 minutes.

Friday, June 3, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) – Coolray Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (25-30, 4th(-9.0), North)
RHP D.J. Carrasco (1-3, 4.94)

Gwinnett Braves (26-27, 2nd(-4.0), South)
RHP Todd Redmond (3-5, 2.87)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons take on the Gwinnett Braves in the first game of a four-game series from Coolray Field (7:05 p.m.). The Bisons are coming off a split of a four-game set in Charlotte to begin this roadtrip. The Herd has won five of its last seven games and seven of their last 11 contests dating back to May 22.

VS. THE BRAVES: The Bisons are 3-1 against the Braves this season. The Herd won three of four in their back-to-back doubleheaders against Gwinnett last weekend at Coca-Cola Field. Dating back to last season, Buffalo has now won six of its last seven games against the Braves.

HEY MR. D.J.: RHP D.J. CARRASCO will make his seventh start of the season tonight. The righty has lost his last two games, including a 6-1 defeat to Gwinnett in the first game of May 28th’s twinbill. On the year, Carrasco has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his starts. He has also worked five innings of more in each of his last five outings.

O’C YOU SOON: The Mets announced yesterday that LHP MIKE O’CONNOR has been optioned to the Bisons. The southpaw made nine appearances with the Mets and was 0-1 with a 2.70ERA in 6.2 innings of work. O’Connor was 2-1 with a 3.31ERA in 10 outings with the Bisons to begin the season.

BURNIN’ TURNER: Yesterday, Mets’ INF JUSTIN TURNER was named National League Rookie of the Month for May. The former Bison hit .325 (27-83) with 20RBI and a .378 on-base percentage during May. Turner began the season with the Bisons and hit .300 (12-40) in 10 games before his promotion.

OUR PAL VAL: INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI has been all over the bases for the Bisons of late. The slugger has six hits, four walks and a hit by pitch in his last 14 plate appearances. Pascucci now sports a .413 on-base percentage for the season, the third-highest mark in the International League.

BISONS BITS: Buffalo’s series win over Gwinnett last weekend is their only series win of the season…OF JESUS FELICIANO hit .462 (6-13) in the series in Charlotte to start this roadtrip…OF LUCAS DUDA has four home runs and eight RBI in his last seven games

METS UPDATE: The Mets (26-30) came back from seven runs down to defeat the Pirates on Thursday, 9-8. OF CARLOS BELTRAN homered and drove in four runs for New York. Former Bison’ INF RUBEN TEJADA chipped in three RBI. The Mets open up a three-game set with the rival Braves tonight at 7:10 p.m.

The Bisons dropped the last game of the series with Charlotte in 12 innings on Thursday night at Knights Stadium, 4-3.

After the Knights tied the game in the seventh inning neither team could push across a run until the third inning of extra baseball. After pitching two innings in yesterday’s win John Lujan was called on in the 11th inning to keep the Knights off the score board. He retired the side in order, and returned for the bottom of the 12th inning.

Thursday, June 2, 2011 (7:15 p.m.) – Knights Stadium
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (25-29, 4th(-8.0), North)
RHP Josh Stinson (3-4, 5.29)

Charlotte Knights (23-28, 3rd(-6.5), South)
RHP Matt Zaleski (0-2, 15.95)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons take on the Charlotte Knights in the final game of a four-game series from Knights Stadium (7:15 p.m.). With victories on Monday and Wednesday, the Herd can take the series with another win tonight. Following tonight’s finale, the Bisons will continue their roadtrip with a four-game series in Gwinnett against the Braves.

VS. THE KNIGHTS: The Bisons are 4-3 against the Knights with tonight’s game the finale in their season series. The two teams split a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field, May 21-24. Buffalo is looking for its first series win at Knights Stadium since the 2005 season and their first season series over the Knights win since taking five of eight during the 2008 campaign.

ANOTHER SERIES WIN?: The Bisons have a chance to win their second consecutive series. Buffalo took three of four from Gwinnett in back-to-back doubleheaders over the weekend and have won two of three from the Knights. The Bisons began the 2011 season without a win in their first 13 series. The club had nine splits and four series losses before their win over the Braves.

WIN-SON: RHP JOSH STINSON will make his team-high 10th start of the season tonight. The righty has won two straight, posting a 2.19ERA and eight strikeouts in his last 12.1 innings of work. The first of those two starts was a 7-5 victory over the Knights on May 22. In that start, Stinson allowed three runs in 6.1 innings of work.

ZIPPIDY DUDA: OF LUCAS DUDA became the third Bison this year to collect a multi-homer game last night. The slugger reached base all five times he came to the plate with a double, two home runs and two walks. Since being activated off the disabled list on May 28, Duda has hit .471 (8-17) with a double, four home runs and seven RBI in six games.

OUR PAL VAL: After collecting 26RBI in 26 games in May, INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI began June with another monster game. The slugger was 3-3 with a double, an RBI and two walks. Pascucci now sports a .407 on-base percentage, tied with teammate OF KIRK NIEUWENHUIS for 3rd best in the league.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (25-30) have an afternoon game with the Pirates today from Citi Field. New York activated INF JOSE REYES this afternoon from the bereavement list and placed RHP TAYLOR BUCHHOLZ on the disabled list. Starting tomorrow, the Mets will host rival Atlanta in a three-game series.