Monday, May 30, 2011 (7:15 p.m.) – Knights Stadium
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (23-28, 5th(-8.0), North)
LHP Mark Cohoon (NR)

Charlotte Knights (22-26, 3rd(-4.5), South)
RHP Cameron Bayne (NR)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons take on the Charlotte Knights in the first game of a four-game series from Knights Stadium (7:15 p.m.). Today’s game begins an eight-game roadtrip as the Herd will also travel to Gwinnett, June 3-6. Buffalo has won three straight games and recently completed a 5-3 homestand against the Knights and Braves.

VS. THE KNIGHTS: The Bisons and Knights split a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field, May 21-24. This week, Buffalo will be looking for its first series win at Knight Stadium since the 2005 season. Since then, the Bisons have just two splits and a 6-14 record at the home of the Charlotte Knights.

NEW STARTER: LHP MARK COHOON will make his Triple-A debut tonight for the Bisons. The 23-year old was 1-3 with a 3.91ERA in nine games with Double-A Binghamton this year. He worked five or more innings in eight of his nine starts and allowed three of fewer runs in seven of those outings. Cohoon was a combined 12-5 with a 2.57ERA and 131 strikeouts in 26 starts between Binghamton and Single-A Savannah last season.

BUSY WEEKEND: The Bisons collected their first series win of the season by taking three games in their back-to-back doubleheaders against Gwinnett this past weekend. The Herd bullpen stepped up by allowing just one run on 11 hits and 12 strikeouts in 12.0 innings of work (including a spot start by RHP JOHN LUJAN). RHP MANNY ACOSTA earned a pair of saves as the only pitcher that was used in multiple games.

WITH A BANG: OF LUCAS DUDA homered in back-to-back days this weekend. He hit his fourth of the season in game one on Saturday and then added a solo shot in game two of Sunday In his last 14 games at Triple-A, Duda has hit .333 (15-45) with three doubles, five homers and nine RBI.

ODDITIES: Some odd numbers came out of the Bisons doubleheader sweep on Sunday. On the day, the Bisons were a combined 2-2 with runners in scoring position with one of the hits a grand slam by INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI in game one. The Herd did not leave a man on base or have an at-bat with a runner in scoring position in game two’s 2-1 win.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (24-28) pounded out nine runs on 17 hits in a 9-5 win over Philadelphia yesterday. INF JOSES REYES had four hits and his third, two-triple game of the season. Former Bison C JOSH THOLE added three hits and three RBI. The Mets host the Pirates tonight at 7:10 p.m.

The Bisons got their first series win with by sweeping the Gwinnett Braves in Sundays doubleheader at Coca-Cola Field. The Herd won the first game, 5-3, and the second, 2-1, thanks in large part to the long ball.

The Herd power surge came in the fifth inning of game one and the fourth inning of game two. In both games the Bisons were behind on the scoreboard.

Gwinnett was up early in the first game of the doubleheader, 3-0, before the Bisons struck back in the fifth inning. After Fernando Martinez ended Todd Redmond’s 21 scoreless inning streak with a sacrifice fly scoring Mike Nickeas, the Bisons loaded the bases with two outs.

With Luis Figueroa on first Michael Fisher drew a walk with two outs and Redmond hit Lucas Duda to fill the bases with Bisons. Valentino Pascucci came to the plate with a golden opportunity to put runs on the board.

“I was the happiest guy when Duda got hit, I know he wasn’t, but I was cause it gave me a shot with the bases loaded and a chance to drive in some runs,” said Pascucci. “Fisher was battling, battling, battling and ended up getting a walk, Duda getting hit loading the base, and two strikes on Pascucci and he hits one out the other way,” said manager Tim Teufel. “That’s the difference in the ball game.”

F. Martinez hit the Bisons last grand slam on June 14, 2011 in a, 7-6, walk-off win against Lehigh Valley. It was Pascucci’s fourth homerun of the season and the 33rd hit by the Bisons, and only the eighth homerun that was not a solo-shot.

Down, 1-0, in the fourth inning of game-two Fisher drilled a solo-homerun over the wall in right-center to tie the game at, 1-1.

One batter later Duda hit a solo-homerun over the wall in left to give the Bisons a, 2-1, lead.

The Herd’s bullpen pitched its way through the second game of the double header starting with John Lujan. Lujan made his first start since 2007 and was followed by Justin Hampson and then Ryota Igarashi.

“Lujan did a nice job giving us what he could,” said Teufel.

After taking the lead, 2-1, the Herd danced out of trouble in the fifth and sixth inning. In the fifth the Herd escaped by picking off Braves call-up Antoan Richardson. After advancing runners to second and third on a balk, Igarashi struck out Ed Lucas to end the fifth.

In the sixth inning Igarashi had runners on first and third with one out. He got Wilkin Castillo to fly-out to Fisher and struck out Richardson to keep the score, 2-1.

Igarashi handed the ball to Manny Acosta to close out the game for the win and give the Bisons their first series win of the season and improve their home record to, 16-14.

Game Notes: The Bisons hit the first grand slam of the season and the first since June 14, 2010…Fernando Martinez drove in his first RBI since being put on the clubs active roster Friday..LHP Mark Cohoon was also added to the Bisons active roster…John Lujan made his eighth career start and first since May 24, 2007, when he started for Winston-Salem…The Bisons Homerun total moved to 35, 27 of the 35 are solo-shots.

The Buffalo Bisons today announced that OF FERNANDO MARTINEZ and LHP MARK COHOONhave been added to the club’s active roster. Martinez was optioned by the New York Mets on Friday while Cohoon has been promoted from Double-A Binghamton.

Cohoon is expected to start for the Bisons on Monday, May 30 against the Charlotte Knights.

Martinez played in nine games with New York and hit .250 (5-20) with a home run and two RBI. He clubbed a pinch-hit home run on May 13 in Houston. The outfielder began the 2011 season with the Bisons and hit .292 (19-65) with three home runs and seven RBI in 19 games.

Cohoon, 23, has spent the entire 2011 season with Binghamton and was 1-3 with a 3.81ERA in nine starts and 52.0 innings of work (59H, 17BB, 44K). The southpaw has worked five or more innings in all but one of his starts and has allowed three of fewer runs in seven of the nine appearances. His 44 strikeouts lead the B-Mets.

Last season, Cohoon made 13 starts at Single-A Savannah and Binghamton. He was a combined 12-5 with a 2.57ERA (161.1IP, 142H, 131K).

Sunday, May 29, 2011 (Game 1: 1:05 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (21-28, 5th(-9.5), North)
G1: RHP Brian Sweeney (1-3, 7.59)
G2: TBA

Gwinnett Braves (25-22, 2nd(-1.0), South)
G1: RHP Todd Redmond (3-4, 2.30)
G2: RHP Steven Shell (0-0, 3.00)

TODAY’S GAME: This afternoon, the Bisons take on the Gwinnet Braves in the final two games of a four-game series from Coca-Cola Field (G1: 1:05 p.m.). Because of rainouts on Thursday and Friday night, the Herd and Braves will play a second consecutive doubleheader today. The clubs split yesterday’s twinbill with the Bisons winning 3-1 in the second game. Buffalo is 14-14 at home this season, having split all four series they’ve played at Coca-Cola Field.

VS. THE BRAVES: The Bisons are 1-1 against the Braves this season. Buffalo won the season series, 5-3, last year and is 8-4 in their last 12 games against the Braves dating back to 2009. Buffalo has a win and three splits in four, four-game series over Gwinnett in the two years of the franchise’s existence.

FOUR INTO TWO: The Bisons are playing their second straight doubleheader for the first time since August 20-21, 2009 against Syracuse. The Herd and Chiefs split each twinbill that year. The Bisons also played two straight doubleheaders against the Richmond Braves, June 9-10, 2007 at The Diamond in Virginia. The Braves won three of the four games over Buffalo.

LET’S PLAY TWO: The Bisons have now completed three doubleheaders this season, each with a different outcome. The Herd was swept in two games by Rochester, April 19 before the Bisons rebounded to take two from the Red Wings on April 21. Yesterday, Buffalo and Gwinnett split their twinbill. All three of Buffalo’s doubleheaders this year have been played at Coca-Cola Field.

WITH A BANG: OF LUCAS DUDA returned to the lineup in a big way. The slugger hit a solo home run in his first game back after missing 14 contests on the disabled list with a mid back strain. In his last 12 games at Triple-A, Duda has hit .341 (14-41) with three doubles, four homers and eight RBI.

BULLPEN NOTES: RHP MANNY ACOSTA has allowed just 1 run in his last 11 games and 12.1 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .177 against him this season…LHP JUSTIN HAMPSON has retired the first batter he has faced in 14 of his 15 outings this season (93% success rate)…RHP RYOTA IGARASHI has allowed just two hits in 6.0 innings with the Bisons this season.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (23-28) lost their third straight game with a 5-2 defeat to Philadelphia last night. RHP MIKE PELFREY allowed just two runs as he worked into the eighth inning but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. New York stole five bases in the loss. The Mets host the Phillies again today at 1:10 p.m.

The Bisons split Saturday’s doubleheader losing the first game, 6-1, and winning the second game, 3-1, at Coca-Cola Field.

The Herd won the second game on the strength of Josh Stinsons arm. Stinson went six innings striking out four while allowing only one run.

Stinson looked like he was in trouble in the second inning after giving up an unearned run and intentionally walking Shawn Bowman to face Yohan Flande the Braves starting pitcher. Stinson struck-out Flande before facing down Stefan Gartrell for the final out of the inning stranding three Braves on the base paths.

“You have to be able to pitch out of jams sometimes, and Stinson certainly did that,” said manager Tim Teufel.

After loading the bases Stinson retired 14 of the next 15 batters, and gave up only two hits. Going six innings was important with back-to-back doubleheaders.

“Anytime you go out there you want to go six or seven, you don’t want to be labled as the five and die guy,” Stinson said. “Today more than other days, you got two back to back double headers, makes it tough if you come out early.”

The Herd’s offense provided Stinson a small cushion of three runs all coming in the second inning. Jason Botts got things rolling with a single in just his second game with the Bisons. Luis Hernandez walked moving Botts to third, Bubba Bell followed with a single that drove the Bisons first run across.

With no outs in the second Raul Chavez singled loading the bases with no outs. Jesus Feliciano grounded into a double play allowing Hernandez to score and moving Bell to third. With two outs Bell scored on a passed ball from Flande.

Gwinnett got off to a fast start in the first game of the doubleheader scoring four runs in the first inning, powered by Brandon Hicks Homerun. The Braves added two more runs in the third and fifth inning to stretch their lead over the Bisons, 6-0.

The Bisons got on the board in the sixth inning when Lucas Duda deposited a solo-homerun into the first row of the Bully Hill Party Deck in right-field. The solo shot was his fourth of the season and just second hit of the game for the Herd making the score, 6-1.

“That was nice, it was on a slider that stayed in there real nice and Duda drove it over the right-field wall,” Teufel said. “It’s good to see Duda back in uniform.”

The only other hit was given up in the fifth inning breaking up Braves starter Erik Cordier’s no-hit bid. Cordier was removed from the game in the fifth ending his chance for a win in his first start of the season for Gwinnett.

Game Notes:: The Mets have selected the contract of RHP Dale Thayer off the Bisons roster…Lucas Duda has been activated off the clubs disabled list, and hit his fourth homerun of the season in the first game of the doubleheader…The Herd allowed their first passed ball of the season in the fifth inning of the first doubleheader…Kirk Nieuwenhuis didn’t play either game on Saturday he is still banged up from a diving catch he made on Tuesday…The Bisons remain at .500 they are now, 14-14, when playing at home.