Buffalo Pre-Game Notes

Buffalo Bisons (47-64, 5th(-15.5), North) vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (62-49, 2nd(-0.5), North)Thursday, August 4, 2011 (7:05 p.m.) - McCoy StadiumRHP Dylan Owen (5-5, 4.57) vs. RHP Brandon Duckworth (8-6, 3.86)       Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com TODAY’S GAME: Tonight, the Buffalo Bisons take on the Pawtucket Red Sox in the first game of a four-game series at McCoy Stadium (7:05 p.m.). The Herd is 3-1 on a season-long 10-game roadtrip that began with a two-game sweep in Lehigh Valley and a split of a two-game set in Rochester. The roadtrip will continue on Monday with two games in Syracuse. VS. THE RED SOX: The Bisons are 3-9 against Pawtucket this season. The Herd collected just one win in six games against the Red Sox in the month of July, but all five defeats were by three runs or less. The Bisons have just 36 runs in the 12 games against Pawtucket this season. This four-game series will be the final time the Bisons play the PawSox this season. DEALIN’ DYLAN: RHP DYLAN OWEN will make his 15th start of the season with the Herd. Owen earned his fifth win of the season on July 29 against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees with 7.2 innings of work. The righty ranks second on the Bisons team with 67 strikeouts. In his last start against Pawtucket, Owen struck out four in 6.2 innings of work in a no-decision on July 24 (4ER). Mr. VP: INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI brings a 14-game hit streak into tonight’s game. Since July 20, the slugger has averaged .396 (21-53) with six doubles, three home runs and 14RBI. Pascucci leads the team in walks (59), RBI (75), home runs (16), and total hits (92) this year. Pascucci is now only one RBI behind Gwinnett’s Stefan Gartrell (76) for the most RBI in the IL. SMOOTH AS SATIN: INF JOST SATIN has a 10-game hit streak of his own, over which he has averaged .400 (16-40). He is the eighth Bison to reach double-digit games with a hit streak this season. Since his promotion on July 22, the Triple-A rookie has hit in 11 of his 12 games with the Herd. BISONS BITS: OF JESUS FELICIANO has the best strikeout/plate appearance ratio in the IL. With only 17 strikeouts in 322 trips, Feliciano’s 18.94 PA/K ratio is almost four plate appearances better than any other batter...The Bisons have drawn 376 walks this season, third most in the IL...RHP CHRIS SCHWINDEN is tied for 4th in the IL with 107 strikeouts. The total is already the 9th-highest single-season total for a Bisons pitcher in the modern era. METS UPDATE: The Mets (55-55) and Marlins were rained out last night at Citi Field. New York is also off today as they prepare to host the rival Braves for a three-game set on Friday. The Mets are eight games behind the Braves for the National League’s lone wild card spot. RHP R.A. DICKEY is scheduled to start for New York on Friday.