Thursday’s game between the Buffalo Bisons and the Gwinnett Braves at Coca-Cola Field has been postponed due to rain. The teams will make up the game as part of a doubleheader on Friday, May 27 at Coca-Cola Field (Game 1: 5:35 p.m.).

LISTEN: Angel Pagan answered questions from the media:

On Friday, May 27, the Bisons and Braves will play two, seven-inning games. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. and the team’s schedule Plaza Party will also begin at that time.

Fans holding tickets to Thursday’s game can exchange them for a comparable ticket to any future 2011 Bisons games (excluding special events). All ticket exchanges must be made at the Coca-Cola Field box office. Please note that these exchanges do not have to be made on Thursday, May 26. Fans with tickets can exchange them throughout the remainder of the 2011 season.

Thursday, May 26, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (20-27, 5th(-8.0), North)
RHP D.J. Carrasco (1-2, 4.85)

Gwinnett Braves (24-21, T1st, South)
RHP Erik Cordier (NR)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons take on the Gwinnet Braves in the first game of a four-game series from Coca-Cola Field (7:05 p.m.). Prior to yesterday’s league-wide off day, the Herd split a four-game series with the Charlotte Knights. Buffalo is 13-13 at home this season, having split all four series they’ve played at Coca-Cola Field.

VS. THE BRAVES: Tonight’s game is the Bisons first against the Gwinnett Braves this season. Buffalo won the season series, 5-3, last year and is 7-3 in their last 10 games against the Braves dating back to 2009. Buffalo has a win and three splits over Gwinnett in the two years of the franchise’s existence.

|IN THE OUTFIELD: OF ANGEL PAGAN joins the Bisons today as part of his MLB injury rehab assignment. Pagan has been out of the Mets’ lineup since April 22 with a strained left oblique. He’s hit .261 (8-23) with a home run and two RBI in six games with Single-A St. Lucie. Pagan also had a rehab stint with the Bisons, May 12-16, 2009 as he recovered from off-season elbow surgery. In his first game (May 12), he hit a two-run walk-off triple in the 11th inning of a 4-3 Buffalo win in the first every meeting between the Bisons and Gwinnett.

HEY MR D.J.: RHP D.J. CARRASCO will be making his sixth start with the Bisons tonight. The veteran has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his previous five outings. Carrasco is coming off a loss on May 20 in Indianapolis in a game he allowed just three runs in six innings of work. Carrasco has worked six innings in each of his past two outings.

OUR PAL, VAL: OF VALENTINO PASCUCCI has 20RBI in 20 games this month. The slugger is hitting .302 (19-63) with five doubles, three home runs and six runs scored this May. Pascucci leads the Bisons with 24RBI on the season. His .408 on-base percentage is just two plate appearances shy of qualifying as the second-best mark in the International League.

BISONS BITS: The Bisons are the only team in the International League that has yet to allow a passed ball…OF KIRK NIEUWENHUIS ranks 1st in the IL in games (47)…LHP JUSTIN HAMPSON has retired the first batter he has faced in 14 of his 15 outings this season (93% success rate).

METS UPDATE: The Mets (23-24) defeated the Cubs, 7-4 in a rain-shortened affair at Wrigley Field on Wednesday. Former Bisons RHP DILLON GEE got credit for a complete-game victory after allowing four runs in six innings of work. OF CARLOS BELTRAN had two hits and two RBI. The Mets take on the Cubs at 2:20 p.m. today.

The New York Mets today announced that OF ANGEL PAGAN will join the Buffalo Bisons today as part of his major league injury rehab assignment. The Bisons face the Gwinnett Braves at 7:05 p.m. at Coca-Cola Field.

Pagan, 29, was placed on the disabled list on April 22 with a strained left oblique. He has already played six games with the Single-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League as part of his injury rehab assignment. With St. Lucie, Pagan has averaged .261 (8-23) with a double, a home run and two RBI.

This will be the second time in his career that Pagan has rehabbed with the Bisons. The outfielder joined the Herd for a three-game stint, May 12-16, 2009, while recovering from off-season elbow surgery. He hit .286 (4-14) with two triples, two RBI and two runs scored in those three games. In his Bisons debut on May 12, he hit a two-run, walk-off triple in the bottom of the 11^th inning of a 4-3 win over Gwinnett.

Charlotte Knights starter Lucas Harrell quieted the Bisons’ bats with Buffalo hitting into 15 groundouts in the righty’s six innings in a 7-2 win to split the four-game series Tuesday night at Coca Cola Field.

“I thought we played well,” manager Tim Teufel said. “We just didn’t hit enough today.”

With two outs and a two-two count, Dayan Viciedo hit a deep right-field double off of Herd starter Brian Sweeney. On the next pitch, Tyler Flowers gave the Knights an early 2-0 lead with a home run over the old wall in left center field.

Home Plate umpire D.J. Reyburn ejected Bisons pitching coach Ricky Bones for protesting a close pitch in Viciedo’s at-bat.

“It looked like a pretty good pitch, but you really have to battle back,” Teufel said. “He made too many good pitches. He was throwing too many strikes today. He didn’t have a lot of effect pitches.”

Sweeney’s night ended in the fifth inning after allowing four runs on five hits, including two doubles, in the inning, with Viciedo’s second of thee two-baggers on the night sending the Buffalo righty to the dugout. He finished with totals six earned runs on nine hits with a strikeout, no walks and a wild pitch.

After a four-day absence from the lineup, catcher Mike Nickeas returned with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Chin-Lung Hu.

Harrell allowed just Hu’s run (unearned due to a passed ball), walked two and struck out two.

Viciedo scored for the second time on the night in the eighth, advancing twice in one inning on wild pitches by reliever Ryota Igarashi.

The Bisons rallied in the eighth when Charlotte reliever Shane Lindsay walked the bases loaded, leaving in favor of Miguel Socolovich, who allowed a two-out RBI single to Bubba Bell. Socolovich rebounded to retire the next batter, Jesus Feliciano, with a groundout.

Nickeas doubled with one out in the ninth, but Socolovich retired the next two batters to seal the game.

Game Notes: The Bisons have their first day off in three weeks Wednesday… Manny Acosta struck out two and walked one in two shutout relief innings… After his shutout ninth inning, Dale Thayer has allowed just one run over his last 10.1 innings.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet HD 713                   

Buffalo Bisons (20-26, 5th(-8.5), North)
RHP Brian Sweeney (1-2, 6.35)

Charlotte Knights (20-23, 3rd(-3.5), South)
RHP Lucas Harrell (3-2, 4.04)
 
TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons take on the Charlotte Knights in the final game of a four-game series from Coca-Cola Field (7:05 p.m.). The Bisons have the 2-1 series edge and can win their first series of the 2011 season with another victory tonight. After Wednesday’s league-wide off day, the Bisons will welcome the Gwinnett Braves for a four-game series.

FOR THE SERIES: The Bisons have not collected a series win since a two-game sweep in Rochester on the final two games of the 2010 season, September 5-6. The last time the Herd won a four-game set at Coca-Cola Field was a four-game sweep of Columbus, August 5-8, 2010. Buffalo’s last four-game series win on the road was June 4-7, 2010 in Norfolk.

TODAY’S STARTER: RHP BRIAN SWEENEY is coming off his best outing with the team. The veteran righty allowed just one run on four hits in seven innings on May 19 in Indianapolis. Sweeney is now 1-2 with 6.35ERA in his first three starts since being signed by the Mets on May 6.

VS. THE KNIGHTS: The Bisons have won two straight over the Knights and have a 2-1 lead in the season series. A victory tonight would give Buffalo a home series win over Charlotte for the third time in four years. The only year in that stretch the Bisons didn’t defend Coca-Cola Field was in 2009 when they were swept by the Knights.

OUR PAL, VAL: OF VALENTINO PASCUCCI has 20RBI in 19 games this month, the second most in the International League (CHA, Dayan Viciedo, 23). Pascucci has driven in eight in his last five games and enters tonight on a six-game hit streak over which he has averaged .421 (8-19) with two doubles, a home run and two runs scored. His .413 on-base percentage is just three plate appearances shy of qualifying 2nd-best in the IL.

BISONS BITS: The Bisons are the only team in the International League that has yet to allow a passed ball…OF KIRK NIEUWENHUIS ranks 1st in the IL in games (46), 2nd in on-base percentage (.410), T2nd in walks (29) and T3rd in doubles (15)…The Bisons have left a runner on base in 14 consecutive innings and 19 of 22 against the Knights.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (22-24) were off yesterday. New York will begin a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field tonight (8:05 p.m.). Former Bisons LHP JON NIESE will start, looking to improve on a personal two-game winning streak. The Mets are 6.5 games out of first place in the N.L. East division.