Pawtucket Red Sox (2-1) 8, Buffalo Bisons (1-2) 3
 

TO SUM IT UP: Jason Pridie hit a pair of home runs in Buffalo’s 8-3 loss Saturday afternoon… But, Tony Thomas smacked a second inning grand-slam and drove in another for Pawtucket following Pridie’s first-inning homer… Josh Reddick added a solo shot for the PawSox…

 

FAST FACTS: Ruben Tejada has hit in each of the first 3-games (5-12, 3B, 3RBI)… Tejada and Justin Turner both have hits in the first 3-games… A rare loss for Buffalo behind Pat Misch, the Bisons are now 17-7 in the lefty’s starts (since ’09)… Jason Pridie is 5 for his last 10 AB (2HR, 2B)… After starting 4-4 on the season, Fernando Martinez is hitless in his last nine at-bats… 16 of the 18 runs surrendered have been driven in with two-outs…  Buffalo bounced into three double-plays in the loss…

 

WHAT’S NEXT: RHP Boof Bonser will make his Bisons debut against LHP Andrew Miller at 1:05 p Sunday…  Buffalo hosts the Pawtucket Red Sox in game two of the four-game set to cap off the season’s first homestand. 

 

Buffalo	AVG	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	PO	A
Pridie, LF	.333	4	2	2	0	0	2	3	0	0	2	0
Turner, 2B	.214	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5
Martinez, F, DH	.308	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Pascucci, 1B	.250	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
Nieuwenhuis, CF	.167	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1	0
Tejada, SS	.417	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2
Adams, R, 3B	.000	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	3
Manriquez, S, C	.200	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	1
Feliciano, J, RF	.000	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Misch, P	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hampson, P	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Thayer, D, P	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	.221	30	3	6	0	0	2	3	3	8	27	11
BATTING HR: Pridie 2 (2, 1st inning off Fox, M, 0 on, 0 out; 8th inning off Bowden, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Pridie 8; Turner; Pascucci; Tejada 2. RBI: Pridie 3 (4). 2-out RBI: Pridie 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Tejada. GIDP: Manriquez, S 2, Tejada. Team RISP: 0-for-2. Team LOB: 3. Buffalo ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR BF Misch (L, 0-1) 6.43 7.0 4 5 5 2 6 2 27 Hampson 5.40 1.0 2 1 1 1 2 0 6 Thayer, D 13.50 1.0 2 2 2 1 1 0 6 Totals 4.35 9.0 8 8 8 4 9 2 39

 

Saturday, April 9, 2011 (4:05 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (1-1, T2(-0.5), North)
LHP Pat Misch (NR)

Pawtucket Red Sox (1-1, T2(-0.5), North)
RHP Matt Fox (NR)

TODAY’S GAME: This afternoon, the Bisons host the Pawtucket Red Sox in the first game of a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field (4:05 p.m.). The Herd is coming off 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.

THE DISH ON MISCH: LHP PAT MISCH will make his 2011 debut tonight. The 29-year old was the top southpaw in the IL last season, leading all lefties with 11 wins and finishing 3rd in the entire league with a 3.23ERA. For that, he was named the Bisons Warren Spahn Most Valuable Pitcher. The Bisons were 17-6 in the 23 starts Misch made last season.

MISCH VS. PAWSOX: LHP PAT MISCH made two starts against the Red Sox last season, going 1-0 with a 3.86ERA. He allowed two runs in 4.2 innings of a no-decision on April 15, 2010 before going seven innings in a victory in Pawtucket on April 25, 2010. In that second start, Misch gave up just three runs to beat the Red Sox, 10-3.

EXTRA WINNINGS: The Bisons scored a 13-inning victory last night when OF JASON PRIDIE raced home on a wild pitch from Syracuse’s LHP Matt Chico. The Herd had 11 walk-off victories last year, including one very similar to last night. On May 4, 2010 against Louisville, Pridie was at the plate in the bottom of the ninth when OF Fernando Martinez scored on a wild pitch from Bats’ closer Jon Adkins.

WITH PRIDE: OF JASON PRIDIE had the biggest night at the plate for the Bisons on Friday. The outfielder had three hits, including an RBI-single in the 3rd inning, a booming double in the 8th and the lead-off single that set up the game-winning rally in the 13th. Pridie hit .280 in 40 games with the Bisons last season before a hamstring injury robbed the speedster of 103 games.

VS. RED SOX: The Bisons and Red Sox split their 16-game season series in 2010 with each team winning four home games and four road games. However, Pawtucket won four of the final five games against the Herd last season. Since the Bisons returned to the IL they are 109-99 (.524) against the PawSox.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (3-4) lost their Citi Field Home Opener to the Nationals yesterday, 6-2. It was New York’s third straight loss after starting the season 3-1. Former Bisons C JOSH THOLE had two hits and a walk in the losing effort. Game two of the series is tonight at 7:10 p.m. with LHP CHRIS CAPUANO getting the start.

Justin Turner’s web gem on Friday.

Val Pascucci drives in Jason Pridie to tie the game, 2-2, before the Bisons win.

Jenrry Mejia blows away Syracuse over 6IP.

VIDEO: More Bisons features and highlights on bisons.com

The Bisons had 11 walk-off wins at Coca-Cola Field in 2010. It didn’t take them long to break out the late inning magic in 2011 as they came back from a 2-1 deficit to tie the game in the eighth inning, and then won it in the 13th, 3-2 .

It wasn’t a home run or a base hit, but hard work and a wild pitch that got the Bisons their first win of the season.

“That’s part of the game, you win any way you can,” said Bisons left fielder Jason Pridie.

Pridie led off the 13th with a base hit into center field, his third of the contest, and was advanced to second by a sharp single by Justin Turner.

Fernando Martinez laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt before Syracuse decided to intentionally walk Valentino Pascucci to load the bases. With Zach Lutz at the plate, Chiefs reliever Matt Chico bounced one through the catcher’s legs, allowing Pridie to sprint home for the winning run.

“We were pretty fundamental the whole way around,” said Manager Tim Teufel.

The Bisons led Syracuse 1-0 until the eighth inning, when Jeff Frazier doubled home a pair off Manny Alvarez to put the Chiefs on top. Pascucci followed Pridies 8th-inning double with one of his own to tie the score and send the game into extra innings.

The pitching duel that took place for the first six innings between Bisons’ Jenrry Mejia and his Syracuse counterpart, Ross Detwiler was overshadowed by the late inning dramatics. Mejia worked six scoreless innings in his 2011 Bisons debut, striking out six batters and only giving up three hits.

Mejia left after the sixth inning which included a spectacular play by Bisons second baseman Justin Turner. Syracuse right fielder Jeff Frazier hit a scorcher up the middle through Mejia’s legs, but Turner a diving grab and threw Frazier out from his knees.

BISONS NOTES: Friday’s game took four hours and 26 minutes. It was the longest game for the Bisons since they lost 5-4 to the Chiefs in Syracuse in 14 innings on August 26 (4 hours, 22 minutes)…This was Jenrry Mejia second career start with the Bisons. He worked eight innings in a no-decision against Syracuse on August 30, 2010…The Bisons used six relievers in the game with the eventual winner Jose De La Torre and Taylor Tankersley pitching on consecutive days.

FINAL SCORE:  Buffalo 3, Syracuse 2

TO SUM IT UP: Bisons (1-1) and Chiefs (1-1) played extra frames tied at 2, until Matt Chico delivered a bases-loaded wild-pitch that scored Jason Pridie and gave Buffalo a 3-2 win… Jenrry Mejia spun six shutout to set the table for a tight affair on Friday night… Mejia punched out eight over his 88 pitches… The Herd’s bullpen tossed 5-striaght combined scoreless innings to help set the win.

MORE: Bisons recap via bisons.com

FUN FACTS: This was the first extra-inning game of the season… Five Bisons have collected hits in the seasons’ first two games (Pridie, Turner, Lutz, Nieuwenhuis, Tejada)… Pridie scored both the tying run in the 8^th and the winning run in the 13^th…

WHAT’S NEXT:
The Bisons split the short two-game set with the Chiefs… Buffalo hosts the Pawtucket Red Sox on Saturday at 4 p.m. to begin a four-game series on Saturday to cap off the season’s first homestand… Pat Misch makes his seasons debut versus Matt Fox.

BATTING
2B: Marrero (1, Alvarez, Ma).
TB: Bixler; Brown, C 2; Marrero 3; Solano, J 2.
RBI: Marrero 2 (3).

Buffalo	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	BF
Mejia, Je	0.00	6.0	3	0	0	2	6	0	22
Hampson	0.00	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Thayer, D	0.00	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Alvarez, Ma (BS, 1)	18.00	1.0	2	2	2	1	0	0	5
Igarashi	0.00	2.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	7
Tankersley	0.00	1.1	1	0	0	3	2	0	8
De La Torre (W, 1-0)	0.00	1.2	1	0	0	1	1	0	8
Totals	2.86	13.0	7	2	2	8	12	0	55