The Bisons took the second game of the series against Pawtucket on the strength of team pitching and timely double plays. After Boof Bonser left the game two thirds into the fourth inning due to an injury, Bisons relief pitching picked up where he left off securing the 2-1 win.

The relief staff shut Pawtucket out for the next six innings with solid work from Jose De La Torre, Mike O’Conner and Manny Alvarez. Ryota Igarashi pitched one and a third innings for his first save of the season.

Igarashi retired the side in the ninth with ease, striking out Ryan Kalish, getting Daniel Nava to ground out and striking out Lars Anderson looking.

“I’ll tell you what those guys have done a great job out there in the bull pen, and their pitching often, and their doing a tremendous job holding down the fort,” Manager Tim Teufel said.

De La Torre came in midway through Pawtucket infielder Nate Spears at bat, after Bonser left the game. De La Torre got Spears to fly out to center field to end the inning. De La Torre faced five batters striking out three.

“Today De La Torre did a great Job,” said Teufel. “The bullpen has done a tremendous job and especially today, they really stepped up today.”

The Bisons never trailed in the game, scoring a run in the first inning off of a Justin Turner triple, and a RBI single by Nick Evans.

“I got a lot of faith, we got a lot of good hitters in the line-up and I think it’s just a matter of time before they start really swinging the bat,” said Teufel.

Pawtucket tied the game in the fourth inning when Yamaico Navarro hit a double into left field and was singled home by J.C. Linares tying the game at one.

The Bisons came right back in the bottom of the fourth. Ruben Tejada walked and stole second, his second stolen base of the year. Pawtucket starter Andrew Miller walked two more batters loading the bases. A passed ball from Rich Hill allowed Tejada to score from third, giving the Bisons back the lead.

“We’re playing good defense and fundamentally sound baseball so from that stand point and having good pitching out of the bullpen, as a manager you can’t ask for much more,” Teufel said.

Buffalo	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Pridie, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.263
Turner, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.222
Evans, N, 1B	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.333
Pascucci, DH	3	0	0	0	1	3	2	.182
Lutz, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.154
Tejada, SS	3	1	0	0	1	1	1	.333
Nieuwenhuis, CF	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	.167
Chavez, R, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	.000
Feliciano, J, RF	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.000
Totals	27	2	3	1	6	8	12
BATTING 3B: Turner (1, Miller, A). TB: Turner 3; Evans, N 2. RBI: Evans, N (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Pridie 2. Team RISP: 1-for-3. Team LOB: 7.

 

Buffalo	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bonser	3.2	3	1	1	2	4	0	2.45
De La Torre ( 2-0)	1.2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0.00
O’Connor (H, 1)	1.2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Alvarez, Ma (H, 1)	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	10.80
Igarashi (S, 1)	1.1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00

WHAT’S NEXT: Game three of four between Buffalo and Pawtucket… Casey Fossum makes his season debut Monday at 6:05 p.m.

Sunday, April 10, 2011 (1:05 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (1-2, 5th(-1.0), North)
RHP Boof Bonser (NR)

Pawtucket Red Sox (2-1, T1st, North)
LHP Andrew Miller (NR)

TODAY’S GAME: This afternoon, the Bisons host the Pawtucket Red Sox in the second game of a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field (1:05 p.m.). The Herd is 1-2 on its season-opening homestand that started with a split of a two-game series against the Syracuse Chiefs. Buffalo’s first roadtrip of 2011 will start on Wednesday in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

VS. RED SOX: The Red Sox struck first in the season series against the Bisons with last night’s 8-3 win. Dating back to last year, Pawtucket has now won five of their last six games here at Coca-Cola Field. However, since the Herd’s return to the IL in 1998, the Bisons hold the 58-45 edge in Buffalo.

BISONS’ DEBUT: RHP BOOF BONSER will make his Bisons debut this afternoon. The righty split last season in the Boston and Oakland organizations and saw action with both the Red Sox and Athletics. He pitched in nine games with Pawtucket in 2010, posting a 6.34ERA and an 0-2 record.

A NEW HOME: RHP BOOF BONSER has had good success in the ballpark he now calls home. Bonser is 2-0 with a 2.19ERA in two career starts at Coca-Cola Field. The last time Bonser pitched at Coca-Cola Field was May 12, 2006 when, as a starter for Rochester, he allowed just two runs and struck out eight in six innings to defeat the Bisons. He allowed just one run in 6.1 innings to lead the Red Wings to victory again on July 8, 2005.

WITH PRIDE: OF JASON PRIDIE hit a pair of home runs in last night’s defeat, his first two blasts of the season. The last Bisons hitter to go deep twice in a game was INF JUSTIN TURNER on July 29, 2010 in Columbus. Pridie’s first homer led off yesterday’s game, his second leadoff homer with the team. The outfielder hit a lead-off shot on April 18, 2010 against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

HOT TEJADA: INF RUBEN TEJADA has started the season off right with five hits in his first 12 at-bats of the season. With two more singles last night, Tejada now sports a .417 average in the early going. Tejada hit .280 with 11 doubles, a home run and 16RBI in 65 games with the Bisons in 2010.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (4-4) snapped their three-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory over Washington last night from Citi Field. OF CARLOS BELTRAN had a pair of home runs and drove in three. LHP CHRIS CAPUANO pitched six innings to win his first game as a Mets. New York hosts the Nationals again today at 1:10 p.m.

Second baseman Tony Thomas drove in five of Pawtucket’s eight runs, including a two-out grand slam in the second inning off of starter Pat Misch, leading the Red Sox to an 8-3 win over the Bisons on Saturday.

The shot was Thomas’ first hit of the early season, Pawtucket’s first home run of the year and Misch’s first grand slam allowed with Buffalo since joining the Mets organization in 2009. Thomas added a fifth RBI when he drove in J.C. Linares with a single in the ninth inning.

Jason Pridie provided the Bisons’ only offense with two home runs, a leadoff shot off of Pawtucket starter Matt Fox and a two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth.

Pridie said despite the loss, it always feels good to start off the season hitting well.

“It’s good to start the team off the right way, especially in the leadoff spot,” Pridie said. “My job is to get the team going.”

After hitting .327 with four home runs and 10 RBI against Buffalo last year, right fielder Josh Reddick continued to terrorize the Bisons with a solo shot off of Misch in the fifth inning.

Bisons manager Tim Teufel said the game got away from Misch with five runs on two home runs.

“The second home run was down in the zone,” Teufel said. “Lefthanders usually like it there. [Reddick] did a good job hitting it out of the ballpark.”

Misch left the mound after seven, allowing five runs (all earned) on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

BISONS NOTES: Pridie hit his first two home runs of the season. The outfielder had three in 40 games with the club in 2010…Pawtucket got a shutout inning of relief from four-year Boston Red Sox veteran, lefty Hideki Okajima… After last night’s 13-inning game that lasted four hours and 26 minutes, Saturday’s game ended in two hours and 35 minutes.

Bisons manager, Tim Teufel’s post-game reatcion.

Jason Pridie’s leadoff HR gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead.

Pridie pops his 2nd HR of the day during Bisons’ 8-3 loss Saturday.