Buffalo Pre-Game Notes

Buffalo Bisons (48-66, 5th(-16.5), North) vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (64-50, 2nd(-0.5), North)Sunday, August 7, 2011 (1:05 p.m.) - McCoy StadiumRHP Chris Schwinden (7-5, 3.59) vs. RHP Kyle Weiland (8-7, 3.20)Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com TODAY’S GAME: This afternoon, the Bisons take on the Pawtucket Red Sox in the final game of a four-game series at McCoy Stadium (1:05 p.m.). Trailing 2-1 in the series, the Bisons need a win today to split the four-game set. Buffalo is 4-3 on their season-long four-team, 10-game roadtrip. The roadtrip will conclude with a pair of games in Syracuse on Monday and Tuesday. VS. THE RED SOX: The Bisons are facing the Red Sox for the final time in 2011 today. The Herd is just 4-11 against Pawtucket this season. Nine of the last 11 contests between the Bisons and the PawSox have been decided by three runs or less with six one-run games. SCHWING AND MISS: RHP CHRIS SCHWINDEN will make his team-high 21st start this afternoon. The righty leads the Bisons with seven wins, 107 strikeouts and a 3.59ERA. His strikeout total is tied for the 5th most in the International League and is already the 9th-highest for a Bisons pitcher in the Modern era. RHP DILLON GEE set the single-season strikeout mark in 2010 with 165 strikeouts. SMOOTH AS SATIN: INF JOSH SATIN brings a 13-game hit streak into today’s contest, over which he has averaged .412 (21-51). It’s the second longest active streak in the International League behind only Durham’s Leslie Anderson (18 games). Satin extended his hit streak last night with a double of Pawtucket’s LHP Royce Ring and now has nine hits in 11 at-bats against lefties since joining the Bisons (.818 average). ROSTER MOVE: Yesterday, the Bisons welcomed back C MIKE NICKEAS from a stint with the Mets and INF ZACH LUTZ from the disabled list. Nickeas has hit .208 in 50 games with the Bisons this year and Lutz has averaged .314 in 39 games around three stints to the disabled list. To make roster room, C DUSTY RYAN was transferred to Double-A Binghamton. - from team press release