BISONS:
Justin Turner, 2B
Luis Hernandez, SS
Jorge Padilla, CF
Mike Jacobs, 1B
Fernando Martinez, RF
Mike Cervenak, 3B
Lucas Duda, LF
JR House, C
Tobi Stoner, RHP

CHIEFS:
Boomer Whiting, LF
Justin Maxwell, CF
Chase Lambin, 2B
Jason Botts, 1B
Kevin Mench, RF
Pete Orr, SS
Leonard Davis, 3B
Carlos Maldonado, C
Matt Chico, LHP

The International League announced today that Buffalo outfielder Lucas Duda and Gwinnett pitcher Todd Redmond have been named the League’s Batter and Pitcher of the Week for the period from June 28-July 4. Each player is the third on his respective ballclub to receive an IL weekly award in 2010. Duda follows Mike Hessman (April 26-May 2) and Jesus Feliciano (May 17-23) while Redmond joins Chris Resop (May 10-16) and Matt Young (June 21-27).

Buffalo outfielder Lucas Duda
It was just his third week with Buffalo since being promoted from Double-A Binghamton on June 14, but Bisons left fielder Lucas Duda led the International League with five home runs, 11 RBI, and a 1.000 slugging percentage this week and made headlines by homering in five consecutive games. He hit a three-run home run on Monday in Charlotte and hit solo shots on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Syracuse Chiefs at Coca-Cola Field. Duda then hit a solo home run in Thursday’s series opener against Rochester before going deep again on Friday night when he knocked one over the right-center field wall in the 3rd inning.

That blast made him just the fifth player in the 125-year history of the Buffalo franchise to hit home runs in five consecutive games. The most recent to do so was Andy Marte in June of 2006.

CLICK HERE: Lucas Duda’s player page

24-year-old Lucas Duda is in his fourth season of professional baseball after being chosen by the Mets in the 7th round of the 2007 draft. He was hitting .286 with six homers and 34 RBI in 45 games with Binghamton this season before being promoted to Buffalo. Duda is a native of Fontana, California.

Gwinnett pitcher Todd Redmond
Braves right-hander Todd Redmond faced off against the leaders of the IL West and IL South Divisions on the road this week, and came away with a 1-0 record and a 0.69 ERA, having allowed just one run, seven hits, and three walks while recording ten strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work. Most importantly, he helped Gwinnett to victories in both games. He didn’t receive the decision Monday night at Columbus, but Redmond was strong. His Braves held a slim 1-0 lead until Luis Valbuena connected for a solo home run in the 6th inning, which was Redmond’s last. Gwinnett eventually won 4-3. Saturday night in Durham, Redmond tossed 7.0 spectacular innings. The Bulls, 2nd only to Columbus in the IL in runs scored this season) managed just two hits off of Redmond in the 3-0
Braves win.

25-year-old Todd Redmond is in his sixth season of professional baseball. His first year at the Triple-A level came last season with Gwinnett, during which he went 9-6 with a 4.41 ERA. On May 28 of this season he threw the first 9-inning no-hitter in franchise history when he blanked Louisville 4-0. Redmond is a native of St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Bisons scored early and often in a 10-2 win at Alliance Bank Stadium against the Syracuse Chiefs.

Syracuse opened up the game with a run in the bottom of the first inning only to see that lead taken by the Herd behind a three-run top half of the second. Second baseman Justin Turner singled to center to drive home right fielder Fernando Martinez and catcher Jean Luc Blaquiere for Turner’s 21st RBI of the season. Turner was 2-5 on the day.

Buffalo then really opened up the game in the fifth inning when they scored four more runs to put the game out of reach.

Martinez continued his hot streak for the day by hitting his sixth home run of the season to deep right field off of Chiefs starting pitcher Erik Arnesen. F-Mart’s two run shot would prove to be the last pitch the Chiefs starter would throw on the day as he was replaced by reliever Collin Balester.

Arnesen was caught in the crosshairs by a team looking to bounce back after their 1-0 loss to the Red Wings yesterday. The Bisons did the majority of the damage in Arnesen’s four and a third innings of work. The Bisons got to the right hander for seven hits and seven earned runs.

On the other side of the mound, the Bisons received an excellent start from starter Dillon Gee. Gee went seven innings while just giving up only five hits and two runs. The starter also struck out six batters. Gee now improves to 8-5 on the season and ties Pat Misch for the team lead in wins. The Herd have their record improve to 44-40 on the season while the Chiefs fall to 47-38 on the year. The Bisons have been streaking as of late winning five of their last six games after losing four of their previous five games.

BISONS NOTES: First baseman Mike Jacobs also hit a home run to give him ten for the season. Jacobs launched a 3-1 pitch to right field to give him double digit homers for the year. The Bisons will continue their series with the Chiefs tomorrow when Tobi Stoner (4-7, 5.28 ERA) will face off against Matt Chico (3-4, 4.24 ERA) at 7:00 p.m.

BISONS:
Justin Turner, 2B
Luis Hernandez, SS
Jorge Padilla, CF
Mike Jacobs, 1B
Lucas Duda, LF
Fernando Martinez, RF
Russ Adams, 3B
Jean Luc Blaquiere, C
Dillon Gee, RHP

CHIEFS:
Pete Orr, SS
Justin Maxwell, CF
Chase Lambin, 2B
Jason Botts, LF
Leonard Davis, RF
Chris Duncan, 1B
Seth Bynum, 3B
Carlos Maldonado, C
Erik Arnesen, RHP

Buffalo Bisons
43-40, 3rd(-4.0)
Dillon Gee (7-5, 5.00)

Syracuse Chiefs
47-37), 2nd(-0.5)
Erik Arnesen (2-4, 4.08)

Sunday, July 4, 2010
Alliance Bank Stadium – Syracuse, NY

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons face the Syracuse Chiefs in the first game of a four-game series from Alliance Bank Stadium (6:30 p.m.). The Herd is coming off a 4-1 homestand that included a two-game sweep of the Chiefs, June 29-30. Buffalo also won two of three from Rochester to pull within four games of first place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the IL North division.

vs. THE CHIEFS: The Bisons are 3-5 in the first eight games against Syracuse this season. The Herd won only one of the first six contests before a two-game sweep of the Chiefs at Coca-Cola Field, June 29-30. Buffalo is 0-2 at Alliance Bank Stadium this year and 2-8 in Syracuse since last season.

GOLLY GEE: RHP DILLON GEE is coming off maybe his best start of the season. The righty allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings of work on Tuesday against Syracuse. He struck out six in that start and now has 85 punchouts this season -6th most in the International League. The last time a Bisons pitcher fanned 100 batters in a season was RHP HYANG-NAM CHOI, who struck out 103 during the 2006 campaign.

PADDING STATS: OF JORGE PADILLA enters tonight’s game on a seven-game hit streak. In the last week, the outfielder has averaged .429 (12-28) with three doubles, five RBI and seven runs scored. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Padilla was 5-8 (.625) with three doubles and four RBI in two games against his former team, Syracuse. Padilla hit .367 (114-311) with 25 extra-base hits in 95 games with the Chiefs last season.

BULLY FOR THE PEN: RHP MANNY ACOSTA has been all but unhittable of late. The reliever has given up just two hits over his last seven appearances. Since June 20, Acosta has allowed only five base runners while striking out 11 in 7.2 innings of work. Acosta has converted his last three saves opportunities.

BULLY FOR THE PEN 2: RHP JOSE DE LA TORRE has been equally impressive. The reliever has also given the Herd seven consecutive scoreless appearances since June 15. Since then, De La Torre has not issued a walk and struck out nine in his last seven innings of work.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (45-36) loss to the Nationals, 6-5, yesterday in Washington. Former Bisons RHP R.A. DICKEY allowed just two unearned runs in seven innings but did not earn a decision. C JOSH THOLE had a pair of run-scoring hits for New York, but the Nationals rallied for three in the ninth for the win. The Mets take on Washington again today at 1:35 p.m.

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