8/23/11

Buffalo Pre-Game Notes

Buffalo Bisons (57-72, 5th(-16.0), North) vs. Columbus Clippers (80-51, 1st(+12.0), West)

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) - Huntington Park

LHP Pat Misch (7-8, 4.31) vs. RHP Zach McAllister (10-3, 3.37)Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in the final game of a four-game set at Huntington Park (7:05 p.m.). The Herd is looking for the four-game sweep after outscoring the Clippers in the first three games, 31-9. Following tonight’s game, the Bisons will continue their roadtrip with four games in Toledo. The Bisons have won six of their last seven games and nine of their last 12 games.

VS. THE CLIPPERS: Tonight, the Bisons have a chance to return the favor. The Clippers swept the four-game series at Coca-Cola Field, June 11-14. The Bisons swept Columbus four straight at the tail end of last season, August 5-8 in Buffalo. The Bisons also swept four from Columbus at Cooper Stadium, April 13-16, 2007 in a series that included a 17-1 Herd victory on April 16.

DISCH ON MISCH: LHP PAT MISCH will make his 20th start of the season tonight. The southpaw lost last Thursday despite allowing just four runs (three earned) in seven innings. Misch has worked at least seven innings in three of his last four outings and has a 2.57ERA over those four starts. He is tied for the team lead with seven wins and is second with 81 strikeouts on the season.

HOT BAT: INF ZACH LUTZ has knocked in eight RBI in his last four games. The slugger has at least one RBI in eight of 10 games since August 13. Lutz has also hit in nine of his last 10 games with a .378 (14-37) average and four home runs. On the season, Lutz has hit .341 (14-14) with runners in scoring position.

WINNING: The Bisons have won four straight games for the fourth time this season. The last time the club won four consecutive was July 29 - August 1. The team has not won five straight since August 16-28(1) of last season. The club’s last four-game series sweep was June 24-27 against the Norfolk Tides.

MR. VP: With 90RBI, INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI leads all International League hitters by four RBI. The slugger has 14 games left to become just the fourth Bisons hitter in the modern era to reach the 100RBI plateau. OF Alex Ramirez has the record at 103RBI (in 1998) while DH Ernie Young was the last to reach it with 100RBI during the 2004 season.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (60-67) lost their fourth straight game last night with a 10-0 defeat to the Phillies. New York had just five singles in the loss with two coming from former Bison INF RUBEN TEJADA. Tejada has averaged .378 (17-45) in 14 games in August. The Mets and Phillies renew their rivalry tonight at 7:05 p.m.

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