Bubba Bell’s pinch-hit, bases-clearing double capped a four-run eighth inning rally as the Bisons won their third in a row, 7-6, over Durham Saturday night at Coca-Cola Field.

Zach Lutz hit a solo home run to lead off the eighth before Valentino Pascucci, Jesus Feliciano and Luis Figueroa (another pinch hittter) loaded with bases with singles against reliever Adam Russell. Bell then stepped to the plate in plate against Rob Delaney and launched a ball to left-center field.

“I’ve had a lot of AB’s against Delaney before and I knew that I wanted to jump on something early,” Bell said. “He left a good pitch out there that I could jump on and you don’t want to face him late because he’s got some good secondary stuff.”

Manager Tim Teufel complemented Bell and Figueroa’s abilities to come off the bench in key situations.

“The toughest thing to do in baseball is to pinch hit,” Teufel said. “You’re cold, you’re off the bench, you try to get loose.”

Friday, the Herd rallied to tie Syracuse in the eighth and win in the ninth. Saturday, they came back for a win with three runs in the seventh.

“We feel great,” Bell said. “Any time you can get a win it feels great, but I think that we’ve been playing a lot better than what our record’s shown lately. We’ve just had a couple bumps in the road late in games and right now we’re able to lock them down.”

John Lujan struck out John Matulia, and forced ground-outs by Ray Olmedo and Tim Beckham for his second save.

Durham took an early lead with three runs on four first-inning hits, including Leslie Anderson’s two-run double.

After three shutout innings from starter Alez Torres, Pascucci evened the score with one swing, launching a homer to left field with Josh Satin and Zach Lutz on base.

“Pascucci got us back in the game,” Teufel said. “And then we scrapped from there.”

Pascucci, who went 3-for-3, increased his team-leading total to 18 homers and tied Scranton’s Jorge Vazquez for the International League lead with 82 RBIs.

The Bulls took back the lead in the fifth on Stephen Vogt’s triple.

Starter Chris Schwinden took a no-decision, allowing four earned runs on seven hits over five innings with a walk and four strikeouts.

“He got off to a little shaky start, but then he started feeling it again,” Teufel said. “He started making quality pitches and got some ground ball outs and he took us as far as we wanted him to go tonight.”

Up with Satin and Lutz on again, Pascucci walked to load the bases with no outs in the sixth, but Torres retired the next three batters, including two strikeouts to hold the lead.

In his first game off of the disabled list, Durham’s Brandon Guyer doubled twice, went 3-for-4 and scored after each hit, including in the eighth, when Vogt picked up his second RBI on a double.

Reliever Justin Hampson, who pitched a one-run eighth, earned the win.

Game Notes: The streak give the Bisons three consecutive one-run wins for the first time since July 16-18, 2010, all against Gwinnett… Of Durham’s 10 hits, seven went for extra bases… Buffalo’s Mystery Ball promotion of 500 autographed baseballs from famous athletes and celebrities benefitting Hunter’s Hope sold out in 53 minutes.

Saturday, August 13, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (50-69, 5th(-18.0), North)
RHP Chris Schwinden (7-6, 3.62)

Durham Bulls (67-51, 1st(+2.0), South)
LHP Alex Torres (8-6, 3.16)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons host the Durham Bulls for the second game of a four-game set at Coca-Cola Field (7:05 p.m.). The Herd is now 3-1 on its 10-game homestand that started with a two-game split with the Chiefs. Following their series with the Bulls, Buffalo will face the Toledo Mud Hens for a four-game set that starts on Tuesday.

VS. THE BULLS: The Bisons are 2-3 against Durham this year. In the five games played, the Bulls have the slim 18-17 lead in runs scored. With last night’s win, Buffalo now has a 16-13 record against IL South opponents. The Herd has won seven of its last nine games against the Bulls at Coca-Cola Field. 

SCHWING AND MISS: RHP CHRIS SCHWINDEN will make his team-high 22nd start of the season for the Herd. The righty leads the Bisons with 109 strikeouts, 119.1 innings pitched and a 3.62ERA. His strikeout total is the tied for the 8th most in the International League. It is also tied for the 7th most for a Bisons pitcher in one season in the modern era.

COMEBACK KIDS: The Bisons have posted back-to-back comeback wins. On Thursday, INF ZACH LUTZ collected the team’s fifth walk-off win with a ninth-inning double. Last night, the Herd trailed 0-2 at the top of the seventh inning against the Bulls before scoring the game’s final three runs. The Bisons now have 22 comeback wins this season.

CLOUD NINE: LHP PAT MISCH became the fourth Bisons pitcher to strike out nine batters in a start this season. Tonight’s starter, RHP CHRIS SCHWINDEN was the first to accomplish the feat, April 16 against Pawtucket. RHP D.J. CARRASCO and RHP MIGUEL BATISTA have also fanned nine batters in a start this year.

BISONS BITS: INF JORDANY VALDESPIN has collected hits in each of his first three games at Triple-A. The 23-year old has averaged .364 (4-11) with one RBI since his promotion…RHP DALE THAYER recorded his 16th save of the season last night and now ranks 5th in the International League…The last time the Bisons won back-to-back games by one run was July 21-22, 2010 with victories of 4-3 and 2-1 over the Gwinnett Braves.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (58-60) lost to the Diamondbacks by a 4-3 score. OF JASON BAY went 3-4 with a double and an RBI last night. Former Bisons RHP RYOTA IGARASHI worked 2.0 innings of relief and allowed just one hit. The Mets will face the Diamondbacks for the second game of a three-game set at Chase Field (8:10 p.m.).

After Matt Moore shut out the Herd for six innings, a seventh-inning rally gave the Herd a 3-2 win Friday night at Coca-Cola Field, giving Pat Misch his seventh win of the season.

“Pat was just dealing tonight and hitting his spots,” manager Tim Teufel said.

Misch threw 111 pitches for 74 strikes over 8 1/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on eight hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

“I want to go as deep in the ballgame as I can every time, then I get five days off,” Misch said. “That’s not fun for me. I like being out there, I like pitching and that’s my goal to eat up innings as a starter.”

The southpaw said he ranks Friday’s performance among his best on the year.

“It’s just good to, after the series against Syracuse (when) we didn’t do too hot, to start off this series strong,” Misch said.

The Bisons plated the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by reliever Dane De La Rosa, bringing home Mike Nickeas.

Nickeas had cut the lead to one with a single after hits by Fernando Martinez and Luis Hernandez led off the inning against De La Rosa.

With Hernandez and Nickeas on the corners, De La Rosa hit Jesus Feliciano, loading the bases with no outs for pinch hitter Luis Figueroa, who tied the game with a fielder’s choice grounder.

Between Misch and Dale Thayer the Herd struck out six consecutive batters before Nevin Ashley grounded to Jordany Valdespin, who made a jumping throw from the outfield grass for the final out.

Misch allowed hits to the first three batters he faced, including a John Matulia RBI double, but limited the damage to one run by striking out Dan Johnson, Russ Canzler and Leslie Anderson in order.

“You take away the first three hits, it’s a gem,” Teufel said. “But if you give up one run in a game, for me it’s a gem. That’s what he threw tonight, a gem.”

Moore retired his first nine batters until Valdespin led off the fourth with his second double and fourth hit in three games as a Bison.

Moore earned the win with 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks.

“Our hitters were in a battle,” Teufel said. “They overcame tonight when they went to the bullpen.”

Tim Beckham, the 2008 top overall draft pick in 2008, went 2-for-4, scored the Bulls’ first run and drove in their second with a seventh-inning single.

Game Notes: Home plate umpire Chris Ward ejected Teufel in the fourth inning for disputing the strike zone… Misch has the only Bisons complete game of the year, a rain-shortened seven-inning win over Norfolk June 6th.

Friday, August 12, 2011 (7:35 p.m.) – Coca-Cola Field
Radio: WWKB AM 1520, WGR Sportsradio 550 AM, bisons.com

Buffalo Bisons (49-69, 5th(-18.0), North)
LHP Pat Misch (6-7, 4.60)

Durham Bulls (67-50, 1st(+2.0), South)
LHP Matt Moore (3-0, 1.09)

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons host the Durham Bulls for the first time this season to start a four-game set at Coca-Cola Field (7:35 p.m.). The Herd began their 10-game homestand with a two-game split with the Chiefs. Following their series with the Bulls, Buffalo will face the Toledo Mud Hens for a four-game set that starts on Tuesday.

VS. THE BULLS: The Bisons are 1-3 against Durham this year. The Herd lost a series at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, June 20-23. The last time Buffalo hosted the Bulls, LHP PAT MISCH worked five innings of a 12-7 Herd victory on April 30, 2010. The Bisons have won the Coca-Cola Field series in this match-up, 3-1, in each of the last two seasons.

DISCH ON MISCH: LHP PAT MISCH will make his 18th start of the season for the Herd. The lefty is leading all Bisons pitchers in innings pitched per game (6.1) and quality starts (9) and is second with six wins. In his last outing, Misch allowed four runs in 5.2 innings in a loss last Saturday in Pawtucket.

WALK IT OFF: The Bisons scored their 5th walk-off win of the season yesterday. The Bisons trailed 2-1 in the eighth inning but got a two-out RBI-single from INF JORDANY VALDESPIN to tie the game. In the ninth, INF ZACH LUTZ doubled home INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI from first base. Buffalo is now 8-5 in one-run games at Coca-Cola Field this season.

CHART CLIMBER: OF JESUS FELICIANO had another single yesterday and has now hit in 22 of his last 26 games. The veteran now has 356 hits as a Bison, 5th most in the modern era. Feliciano is 11 hits behind INF Brandon Phillips for 4th place and 22 hits behind modern era leader Bill Selby (378). His .312 batting average is 2nd in the Bisons modern era (Dave Clark, .327).

OUR PAL VAL: INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI scored the game-winning run yesterday on a double by INF ZACH LUTZ. Pascucci also collected his 79th RBI earlier in the game. The slugger is 2nd in the IL with Stefan Gartrell of the Gwinnett Braves, three RBI behind Scranton/WB’s Jorge Vazquez. Pascucci is also 5th in the IL in on-base percentage (.384).

METS UPDATE: The Mets (58-59) lost to the San Diego Padres by a 3-2 score. Former Bisons INF LUCAS DUDA had a double and two RBI in the loss. Another former Bison RHP DILLON GEE will get the nod tonight for the Mets as they travel to Chase Field for a three-game set against the Diamondbacks (9:40 p.m.).

After rallying to tie the game in the eighth, the Herd won on a walk-off hit by Zach Lutz in the ninth, scoring Valentino Pascucci for the winning run of a 3-2 afternoon affair at Coca-Cola Field.

“Lutz smoked that ball to center field,” manager Tim Teufel said. “The center fielder (Roger Bernadina) had trouble against the wall and Pascucci scores from first base.”

After three stints on the disabled list this season, Lutz said the walk-off felt good as he aims to play the final month of the season.

“This is my first walk-off hit I’ve ever had in my life,” Lutz said. “For it to come like this where I’ve been struggling the last couple games and to come out with a victory against this ballclub meant a lot for our team.”

In his second game in Triple-A, Jordany Valdespin drove in the tying run on a single against reliever Atahualpa Severino, scoring Fernando Perez after he walked and moved to second on a Raul Chavez bunt.

“Valdy has a chance to tie the game and he does against a tough lefty, Severino,” Teufel said. “He’s a very interesting guy, talent-wise.”

In his third quality start as a Bison, Miguel Batista (1-0) took a no decision, allowing two earned runs on four hits over 6 1/3 innings with five walks and two strikeouts.

Both teams traded runs in the first, when Steve Lomardozzi doubled and later scored on a Jesus Valdez sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the inning, Jesus Feliciano singled, advanced on a Josh Satin single, Corey Brown error and scored on a ground ball hit by Pascucci.

Dale Thayer, who pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts, earned the win.

After Satin’s single, Syracuse starter Brad Meyers settled in to retire the next 13 batters he faced until a two-out single by Chavez in the fifth.

Combining with reliever Garrett Mock, Chiefs pitchers retired 20 out of 21 batters following Satin’s single until Perez’ eighth-inning walk.

Over five complete innings, Meyers allowed an unearned run on three hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

A broken-bat sacrifice fly by Chris Marrero scored Lombardozzi again from third in the third inning for.

Game Notes: Feliciano sits 22 hits shy of Bill Selby’s modern-era Bisons career hit record with 356… Chavez caught Brown stealing second in the sixth inning, bringing his season total to 27 runners caught of 55 attempts (41.9 percent)… Pascucci’s 79 RBIs lead the Herd and rank second in the International League, tied with Gwinnett’s Stefan Gartrell… Despite Buffalo’s win, Syracuse leads the season series, 10-4.