As we get later into summer and the nights are starting to cool down, the Bisons are starting to turn up the heat. The Herd continued on their recent hot streak by defeating the Columbus Clippers 6-2 tonight at Coca-Cola Field.

While the Bisons earned the win tonight for their third straight over the IL’s West Division leader, they didn’t need a nine-run inning or a walk-off home run…they just needed the right arm of Dillon Gee.

Gee who made his 23rd start of the season this evening gave his ballclub an excellent showing in his 7.1 innings. In his outing today Gee (11-7) gave up only five hits and two runs for his 14th quality start this year. He is now tied with Pat Misch for the team-lead in quality starts and leads the team with his eleven wins.

The 24 year old righty also continued his assent up the Bisons modern era strikeout list. While fanning nine batters in today’s win he raised his season total to 132, passing Mike York for the second spot on the list. Those 132 punch-outs also lead IL. He is now only five behind Vicente Palacios for the most strikeouts in a single season. Averaging 5.7 strikeouts a start, Gee has a good shot at snatching the record in his next outing.

While Gee was giving the Herd a solid pitching performance his teammates were slow to give him run support. Entering the sixth inning tied at 1-1, first baseman Nick Evans gave his pitcher a little help from a big swing.

Evans sent a deep bomb to left field that made it all the way to Oak Street. His two-run blast over the screen in left was his first home run as a member of the Herd. The Bisons then added another run later in the sixth and then two more insurance runs coming in the seventh and eighth.

Following the Bisons skid towards the end of July where they went 3-8 to close out the month, the Herd has turned it around to start August. Buffalo is now 5-1 to start out this month and have improved their record to 59-54. As they begin to make the push for the playoffs, the Bisons stand eight games behind Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the IL’s North Division. The Herd also remains 3.5 games back of Louisville for the lone Wild Card spot.

The Bisons have 31 more games remaining this season and eleven more series’. They play five of those sets against teams with winning records and only four of them are at the friendly confines of Coca-Cola Field.

BISONS NOTES: The Herd will look to complete the sweep the Clippers tomorrow afternoon when Tobi Stoner (5-10, 6.07 ERA) takes on Columbus righty Paolo Espino (0-0, 2.57 ERA). The Bisons have only three sweeps all season while Columbus has only been swept three times.

Buffalo Bisons
58-54, 2nd -7.5
RHP Dillon Gee 10-7, 4.88

Columbus Clippers
67-47, 1st +4.5
RHP Carlos Carrasco 9-4, 4.00
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Coca-Cola Field – Buffalo, NY

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

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in the third game of a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field (7:05 p.m.). The Herd has won the first two games of the series, 11-4 and 7-5. Buffalo has now won six of its last seven games and is just 3.5 games behind Louisville for the IL’s lone Wild Card spot. Following tomorrow’s game, the Bisons will leave on an eight-game roadtrip to Lehigh Valley, Scranton/WB and Pawtucket.

ROSTER MOVES: The Mets have recalled INF RUBEN TEJADA and OF FERNANDO MARTINEZ. Martinez was hitting .255 (63-247) with 12 home runs and 33RBI in 68 games. Tejada returns for his third stint with New York this season. The infielder hit .280 (61-218) with a homer and 16RBI in 55 games with the Herd. To make room on their roster, the Mets have optioned OF JESUS FELICIANO back to the Bisons.

WALK OFF YEAR: The Bisons pulled out their ninth walk-off victory last night. OF LUCAS DUDA hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning for the 7-5 win. Of those nine wins, four have come via the longball. In 2010, the Herd has outscored its opponents, 185-158, from the 7th inning on.

vs. CLIPPERS: The Bisons are 4-2 against the Clippers this year. The teams split a four-game set in Columbus, July 27-30. Dating back to last season, the Herd has won four straight against the Clippers at Coca-Cola Field. Overall, Buffalo is 29-21 (.580) at home against Columbus.

GOSH GOLLY: RHP DILLON GEE enters tonight’s start with 123 strikeouts on the year. The total is tied with Durham’s RHP Jeremy Hellickson for the most in the International League. Gee is also just 14 punchouts shy of the Bisons’ Modern Era record of 137, set in 1990 by RHP Vicente Palacios. The righty has 44 strikeouts in his last seven starts (6.3/start). With a victory, Gee (10-7) would also become just the fourth pitcher in the IL to reach 11 wins this season.

TO DUDA LIST: OF LUCAS DUDA added a walk-off home run to his list of accomplishments in his first two months at Triple-A. Since his June 13 promotion to the Bisons, Duda leads all International League hitters with 30 extra-base hits. His .665 slugging pct. in that time is 48 points better than any player in the league. Duda now has 40RBI in just 45 games with the Bisons.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (54-55) fell below the .500 mark last night after a 7-5 defeat to the Phillies last night. Former Bisons INF MIKE HESSMAN launched a pinch-hit three-run homer in the loss. LHP JON NIESE allowed just one run on four hits in seven innings in a no-decision. New York faces the Phillies tonight at 7:10 p.m.

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Duuuuuuuuuuuda!

This was the chant that the 13,867 fans at Coca-Cola Field cheered when left fielder Lucas Duda sent a bomb deep into the night in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Bisons the 7-5 win over the Columbus Clippers.

Duda’s walk off ended an wild back and forth contest between the Herd and Clippers that saw the Bisons rack up seven runs off of only six hits. The Clippers managed to get 13 hits as a team but could only push five runs across the board.

The Bisons used the free passes issued by the Clippers to help them score a majority of their runs. The Herd took advantage of the walks starting in the second inning. Valentino Pascucci and Jorge Padilla drew consecutive walks to lead off the inning. Mike Cervenak used a sacrifice fly to get the first run home and Michael Barrett hit a single to right to put the Bisons up 2-0 early.

Following the Clippers tying the game at two in the top of the seventh, Lucas Duda and Nick Evans once again lead off the inning with back-to-back walks. On the night the Bisons drew ten walks from the Columbus pitching staff. Valentino Pascucci then launched his 13th home run of the year to left field to give the Herd what seemed to be a comfortable 5-2 lead. Pascucci’s three run shot was his first home run since July 29th.

Columbus would not go into the Buffalo night quietly however as they answered back for three runs in the top of the eighth. The Clippers would get singles from three of their first four batters before Damaso Espino would tie the game up with a two-run single.

Buffalo would answer back again as this team showed once again it’s “never say die” attitude. Justin Turner started the rally off right when he singled on the first pitch he saw to put a runner on with no outs. Lucas Duda then put an end to the 3:25 marathon game when he launched a bomb to left field that put the spectators in Heron’s Landing in danger.

Duda’s walk off home run was his 14th of the season and the ninth walk off win for the Bisons this year. In his 45 games with the Herd, Duda is putting up impressive numbers. The left fielder is hitting .312 in his time in Buffalo and his 40 RBI are slowly creeping up on Mike Hessman’s team-leading mark of 58.

The Herd have now won six of their last seven contests and have taken the first two of a four game set with Columbus. Their record now stands at 58-54 as they remain 3.5 games back of Louisville of the IL’s lone Wild Card spot as the Bats defeated Norfolk tonight, 8-7.

BISONS NOTES: Former Bisons slugger Mike Hessman hit a pinch-hit three-run home run for the Mets tonight. Hessman entered the game in the ninth inning and hit his first home run in the majors this season off of J.C Romero to make the game 7-5. The Mets would however ultimately lose by that same score.

Buffalo Bisons
56-54, 2nd(-7.5)
RHP Fernando Nieve (0-0, 2.45)

Columbus Clippers
67-47, 1st(+5.5)
LHP Eric Berger (0-0, 2.53)

Friday, August 6, 2010
Coca-Cola Field – Buffalo, NY

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in the second game of a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field (7:35 p.m.). The Herd beat the Clippers last night, 11-4, despite trailing by four runs for their 27th come-from-behind victory this season. Buffalo is in 2nd place in both the IL North Division (8.5 games back) and in the IL Wild Card race (3.5 games back). After this weekend, the Bisons leave for an 8-game roadtrip against the IronPigs, Yanks, and PawSox.

WILD RACE: The Bisons enter tonight’s game 3.5 games back of Louisville for the IL’s lone Wild Card spot. Columbus is the Herd’s final non-divisional opponent as the club will stay in the IL North over the final 30 games. With 33 games left, Buffalo has at least one more game left than every team in the race.

vs. CLIPPERS: The Bisons are 3-2 against the Clippers this year. The teams split a four-game set in Columbus, July 27-30. Since rejoining the International League in 1998, the Herd is 54-47 (.535) against Columbus including a 28-21 (.571) record at home.

STARTING OFF: RHP FERNANDO NIEVE will make his second start of the year for the Herd tonight. In his previous start, he went 3.2 innings and allowed one earned run in a no-decision. Nieve was 3-0 in four starts with the Bisons last year and 2-4, with 6.00ERA in 40 games with the Mets this season.

CLOUD NINE: Last night, the Bisons scored nine runs in the eighth inning. The Herd sent 13 batters to the plate, with INF JUSTIN TURNER and OF LUCAS DUDA each collecting a pair of hits in the frame. It is the first time the Herd scored nine runs in a single frame since May 5, 2007, when Buffalo rallied for a nine-run ninth against Pawtucket in a walk-off 15-14 win

SNAPPING BACK: INF LUIS HERNANDEZ went 2-3 at the plate yesterday, halting a four-game, 0-17 slide. His two RBI were his first since July 16. Despite the recent cold spell, Hernandez is still hitting .324 (35-108) in 26 games since rejoining Buffalo on July 1.

FUN FRIDAYS: The Herd has not lost on a fridaynightbash!® this season. Buffalo is 7-0 at home on Fridays this year. The Bisons are great weekend warriors, having a combined 30-19 mark on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (54-54) were idle last night. Tonight New York will continue their six-game roadtrip in Philadelphia at 7:05 p.m. Former Bison LHP JON NIESE (7-5, 3.78) will start. The Mets are eight games behind Atlanta in the NL East and 7.5 games behind San Francisco in the wild card race with 54 contests to go.

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Everything about the Herd: CLICK HERE!
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The Buffalo Bisons extended their winning streak to four games when they beat the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs by a score of 7-3 tonight at Coca-Cola Field.

In his fourth game with the Herd, first baseman Nick Evans set the pace for Buffalo’s offense this evening. Coming into today’s game with only three RBI in three games, Evans had four RBI in tonight’s contest. His four RBI came way by two two-run doubles he had in the first and fifth inning. Evans’ two-run double in the first inning gave the Bisons an early lead they would not relinquish.

On the bump tonight, Bisons starter Dillon Gee set the tone early by striking out the first two batters he faced and three of the first four. Gee gave Buffalo his 13th quality start of the year when he went 6.2 innings while giving up seven hits and only three runs. Gee also struck out five to bring his season total to 123.

With his five punch-outs Gee has jumped Randy Kramer for the third spot on the list of most strikeouts in a single season for the Bisons. Gee is now only 14 behind Vicente Palacios for the most in team history. His 123 strikeouts are also good enough for a tie atop the IL league leaders along with Jeremy Hellickson of the Durham Bulls.

Picking up the victory tonight, Gee has also reached the illustrious ten win mark and now stands at 10-7 for the season. He has joined Pat Misch as the first pair of Bisons teammates to both reach the double-digit mark in wins since 2004.

In 2004, the same year the Herd won the IL Championship, Kyle Denney (10-5) and Jack Cressend (10-1) were the last set of Bisons hurlers to get to the ten win mark. The Herd also now have two pitchers with ten wins after going four seasons without a pitcher to reach that mark. Jeremy Guthrie in 2005 was the last pitcher for Buffalo to do so when he went 12-10.

Entering the eighth inning the Bisons were ahead of Lehigh Valley 5-3 and added two insurance runs thanks to a pinch-hit home run from Russ Adams. Hitting for reliever Sean Green, Adams hit his eighth homer of the year that on a ball that just cleared the wall in right field. He’s the first Bison to hit a pinch-hit home run since Valentino Pascucci hit one back on July 15th against Gwinnett.

After taking the four-run lead, thanks to Adams, Jose De La Torre came in the game to seal the deal. After giving up a leadoff single in the ninth, De La Torre settled down and retired the next three batters to secure the win.

The victory over the Iron Pigs is now the fourth straight win for the Herd and their fifth consecutive over Lehigh Valley. The Bisons are now 7-4 against the Iron Pigs this season and with the win they improve to 56-53 for the year.

BISONS NOTES: The Bisons will finish up their four-game series with the Iron Pigs tomorrow night when Tobi Stoner (5-9, 6.04 ERA) faces Brian Mazone (5-11, 3.97 ERA) in the finale of the set. The Bisons will then have an off day and start another four-game home series with the Columbus Clippers starting Thursday.