Wednesday, April 13, 2011 (6:35 p.m.) – PNC Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons
(3-3, T3rd(-0.5), North)
RHP Jenrry Mejia (0-0, 0.00)

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees
(3-3, T1st, North)
RHP David Phelps (0-1, 10.38)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons begin their first roadtrip of the 2011 season with game one of a three-game set against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees at PNC Field (6:35 p.m.). After Friday, the Herd will travel to Pawtucket for a two-game weekend series with the Red Sox. The Bisons are coming off a homestand where they went 3-3 against the PawSox and the Syracuse Chiefs.

VS. YANKEES: Tonight’s game will be Buffalo’s first against the Yankees this season. The Herd has not fared well against the three-time IL North division champs of late, having not won a season series since going 9-7 during the 2005 season. However, Buffalo did take five of eight games against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at PNC Field last season.

OH JENRRY: RHP JENRRY MEJIA is back on the bump after a dominating debut to the 2011 season. Last Friday, Mejia tossed six shutout innings in a no-decision against the Syracuse Chiefs. Mejia fanned six batters and allowed just three hits. With his one Bisons start last season, Mejia now has 15 strikeouts and a 0.64ERA in his first 14 innings at the Triple-A level.

CAUGHT STEALIN: C RAUL CHAVEZ has shown he can control a game from behind the plate. The 38-year old veteran has thrown out five of six would-be base stealers already this season. Last season, Chavez threw out 37% (16-43) of base stealers in 55 games for Triple-A Las Vegas (Toronto).

HOT HITTER: INF ZACH LUTZ got his first start as the team’s clean-up hitter last night and responded with an RBI-double and a solo home run. With a second straight multi-hit game, Lutz is hitting .300 (6-20) on the young season.

ROSTER MOVE: RHP MANNY ACOSTA and C DUSTY RYAN have been added to the club’s active roster. Acosta split 2010 between the Herd and the Mets and was 2-3 with a 3.47ERA and five saves in 28 games with Buffalo. Ryan spent last season with Triple-A Portland and hit .199 with seven home runs and 30RBI in 89 games. To make roster room OF JESUS FELICIANO was transferred to Double-A Binghamton and C SALOMON MANRIQUEZ was transferred to Single-A Brooklyn.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (4-5) and Rockies were postponed last night. The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon. Tonight, it’s one game between New York and Colorado at 7:10 p.m. Former Bisons LHP JON NIESE takes the ball from manager Terry Collins to square off against RHP ESMIL ROGERS.

On a cold night at the ballpark the Bisons’ bats were scorching hot driving in eight runs off Pawtucket pitching to win 8-1 rebounding from a 15-1 loss on Monday.

VIDEO: Gee and Teufel postgame reaction

The Bisons didn’t wait long to get out in front of Pawtucket scoring three runs in the first inning with five straight hits. Nick Evans started the parade with a single through the infield, and was followed by Lucas Duda’s infield single. Zach Lutz drove in the first RBI with his third double of the season.

“Kind of nice to get on the board early, getting three runs in the first gave [Dillon Gee] a little breathing room,” said Manager Tim Teufel .

They picked up their fourth run on Nick Evans solo-homerun to right center-field, notching his second RBI of the season.

“You got to give credit to the guys up there, they gave me a lot of run support and that definitely makes it easier on me to just go out there and do my job,” said Starting Pitcher Dillon Gee.

The Bisons grabbed four more runs in the third inning starting with Zach Lutz’s first homerun of the season, a solo-shot to right center-field. A walk, two singles and two errors helped the Bisons climb to an 8-0 lead.

“Anytime you can get late into a game like that and have plenty of runs on the board is always a good thing for the home team,” Teufel said.

Two of the Bisons eight runs came as a result of Pawtucket errors.

Dillon Gee kept Pawtucket at bay refusing to give up a hit until the fourth inning which led to the only run scored by the Red Sox. Gee started the fourth with an out, but allowed a walk to Pawtucket’s Drew Sutton who came around to score on Yamaico Navarro’s fourth double of the season making it 8-1.

Gee worked seven innings for the first win by a Bisons starter giving the bullpen a much need day of rest. He pitched seven innings giving up three hits, two walks and struck out four.

“I got them to hit my pitches tonight and luckily the defense did a great job,” Gee said. “I felt a little bit more in control tonight; all my pitches were a little bit sharper tonight. I was locating better than I did last time, and again the run support definitely eases the game, I got to give credit to those guys.”

Dale Thayer relived Gee in the eighth retiring the side in order. The Bisons only used two pitchers in the game as Thayer closed out the game getting the first three batters he faced in the ninth

“It’s always nice to give your bullpen a rest, and Thayer came in did a couple innings and did a nice job,” said Teufel.

The Bisons closed out their first home stand with a win bringing their record to 3-3. Game Notes:Zach Lutz hit his third double of the season and his first homerun in the third inning…Raul Chavez caught Pawtucket shortstop Jose Iglesias attempting to steal, opponents are now 1-6 stealing bases…Nick Evans hit his first homerun of the season…Bisons have yet to lose back-to-back games.

Buffalo Bisons (3-3)  8, Pawtucket Red Sox (3-3)  1
April 12, 2011

TO SUM IT UP: Buffalo had five straight hits while sending eight batters to the plate in the first inning, and plated 3 runs to take an early lead and never looked back…  The Bisons scored all eight runs in the first three innings and bolted to an eventual 8-1 win… Nick Evans and Zach Lutz both had home runs… Dillon Gee cruised over his 7IP over 99 pitches and earned his first win of the year, and evened his record

FAST FACTS: Zach Lutz’s last four hits are for extra bases, 3 doubles, 1 HR… The HR was the first for Lutz this season… Lucas Duda had his first hit since coming back from New York… Ruben Tejada has hit in 5 of the first 6 games this season, he’s reached base in all six games… Dale Thayer came in relief of Gee and faced the minimum over the final two frames… Evans, Lutz, and Russ Adams all had multi-hit nights. 

Buffalo	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Pridie, CF	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	.179
Evans, N, 1B	4	2	2	1	0	0	1	.294
Duda, DH	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.125
Lutz, 3B	4	2	2	2	0	1	0	.300
Nieuwenhuis, RF	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	.211
Adams, R, 2B	3	1	2	1	1	0	0	.286
Tejada, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	4	.304
Feliciano, J, LF	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	.111
Chavez, R, C	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	.059
Totals	35	8	10	7	1	3	7
BATTING 2B: Lutz (3, Johnson, K). HR: Evans, N (1, 2nd inning off Johnson, K, 0 on, 2 out), Lutz (1, 3rd inning off Johnson, K, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Evans, N 5; Duda; Lutz 6; Nieuwenhuis; Adams, R 2; Tejada; Feliciano, J. RBI: Lutz 2 (3), Nieuwenhuis (2), Adams, R (1), Evans, N (2), Feliciano, J (1), Chavez, R (2). 2-out RBI: Evans, N. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Feliciano, J; Tejada. SF: Chavez, R. Team RISP: 4-for-8. Team LOB: 5.

Buffalo	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Gee (W, 1-1)	7.0	3	1	1	2	4	0	4.63
Thayer, D	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	4.15

 WHAT’S NEXT: Buffalo’s first road trip of the year, opening in Scranton/WB… Jenrry Mejia makes the start for the Bisons vs. David Phelps… A five game road trip has three in PA  and finishes with a pair of games in Pawtucket, RI.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 (6:05 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field

TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet 13         
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (2-3, T5th(-1.0), North)
RHP Dillon Gee (0-1, 9.64)

Pawtucket Red Sox (3-2, T1st, North)
LHP Kris Johnson (NR)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons host the Pawtucket Red Sox in the finale of a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field (6:05 p.m.). Trailing 2-1 in the series, the Bisons need a win tonight to split the set and their season-opening six-game homestand. Tomorrow, the Herd leaves for a five-game roadtrip that starts with a three-game series against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

VS. RED SOX: Following last night’s loss, the Bisons are now just 2-6 in their last eight games against the Red Sox at Coca-Cola Field. However, one of those two victories came courtesy of tonight’s starter, RHP DILLON GEE. On August 23, Gee struck out six in 6.2 innings to best Pawtucket starter LHP Kris Johnson in a 12-4 Buffalo victory.

GOSH GOLLY GEE: RHP DILLON GEE returns to the mound for his second start of 2011. The righty fell in defeat on Opening Day after yielding seven runs (five earned) in 4.2 innings to the Syracuse Chiefs. In four career starts against the Red Sox, Gee is 2-1 with a 3.97EERA and 24 strikeouts in only 22.2 innings of work.

LOVE THOSE EYES: In the first five games of the season, OF KIRK NIEUWENHUIS has drawn an International League-best six walks. The outfielder has drawn at least one free pass in three straight games, including a team-high three walks on Sunday against Pawtucket. With the base on balls, Nieuwenhuis enters tonight’s game with a .429 on-base percentage.

BULLY FOR THE PEN: The Bisons bullpen boasts the only 2-0 pitcher in the International League. RHP JOSE DE LA TORRE has earned both Buffalo wins this season. The righty worked 1.2 innings of shutout relief on April 8 against Syracuse and again on April 10 versus Pawtucket. Last season, De La Torre was 3-2 with a 2.98ERA in 36 appearances for the Bisons.

ROSTER MOVES: Prior to last night’s game, RHP BOOF BONSER was placed on the disabled list with a right forearm strain. Bonser left Saturday’s game against Pawtucket after just 3.2 innings of work. With the roster space, RHP DYLAN OWEN was promoted from Double-A Binghamton.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (4-6) lost 7-6 to the Rockies from Citi Field on Monday night. INF DAVID WRIGHT hit his second home run of the season and drove in two runs in the loss. All eight Mets starters had a hit in the defeat. New York has now lost five of six as they host the Rockies again tonight at 7:10 p.m.

The MLB NETWORK will carry the live broadcast of three Buffalo Bisons games during the 2011 season.

The games are part of a 10-game International League schedule that will also include the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 13 from Salt Lake City, UT.

MLB Network’s minor league schedule begins on Tuesday, April 19 at Coca-Cola Field as the Bisons host the Rochester Red Wings at 12:05 p.m. The MLB Network will broadcast a second game from Buffalo, NY as the Bisons host the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Monday, April 25 (12:05 p.m.).

The MLB Network will conclude their 2011 minor league game schedule on Tuesday, August 2 at Frontier Field as the Bisons travel to Rochester to take on the Red Wings (12:05 p.m.).