JUNE 20Th BUFFALO (34-30) at PAWTUCKET (33-36) 6:15 Pm
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JUNE 20th BUFFALO (34-30) at PAWTUCKET (33-36) 6:15 pm Buffalo Bisons RHP Nick Tepesch (0-1, 1.64) vs. Pawtucket Red Sox LHP Josh D. Smith (3-3, 2.88) The Chase Is On - The (tied for) 3rd-place Pawtucket Red Sox and the 2nd-place Buffalo Bisons (AAA-Toronto) play game three of their 4-game series at McCoy Stadium tonight at 6:15 pm. Last night the clubs split a make-up doubleheader with each team winning via shutout…Buffalo took the opener, 4-0 but the PawSox bounced back to blank the Bisons in the nightcap, 6-0. Pawtucket is tied with Scranton/WB for 3rd-place in the IL North (-7½ GB of front-running Lehigh Valley) but the Sox are just -3½ GB of 2nd-place Buffalo. Including these two games at McCoy the next two nights, the PawSox and Bisons will meet 6 times in the next 9 days including a 4-game set in Buffalo next Monday – Thursday. This Series and Homestand - This series concludes tomorrow (Thursday) with the official start to summer when these teams play the finale of their 4-game set at 6:15 pm live on NESN. The homestand will continue with another exciting weekend on tap when the PawSox host the Syracuse Chiefs to conclude Pawtucket’s second of two homestands here in June. Friday at 7:05 pm will be Pedro Martinez replica jersey night, Saturday at 6:15 pm will feature Beatles post-game fireworks, and Sunday at 1:35 pm will be highlighted by a tribute to the Armed Services before the game and Run the Bases after. Wednesday Hump Day – After tonight, the PawSox will not play another Wednesday home game for over a month…until Wednesday July 25 vs. Columbus. That is Pawtucket’s only home Wednesday game during the entire month of July. The Sox do have two Wednesday games in August (Aug. 15 at 12:05 pm vs. Norfolk and Aug. 29 vs. Lehigh Valley at 7:05 pm). Pawtucket is 18-17 at home this season compared to 15-19 on the road. What Have You Done for Me Lately – Pawtucket has lost 4 of 6 following their 4-game winning streak from June 10-13 (that fell one shy of equaling their longest of the season (the Sox won 5 straight from May 27-31). Pawtucket has still won 6 of 10 and 14 of their last 23 games since May 27. Before that, the Sox had lost 15 of their previous 19 games from May 7-26. Swimming Up Stream - Pawtucket came up short in their attempt to reach the .500 level for the first time since May 11 on both June 14 and June 16 when they suffered defeats at Lehigh Valley. The Sox (now at 33-36) where last at .500 when they were 16-16 on May 11. In addition, the PawSox had worked their way up from 6th (last) place on June 5 to sole possession of 3rd-place from June 12- 15 (they were 5-games out on Friday), but they are now tied for 3rd-place in the division and -7½ GB of front-running Lehigh Valley. North Face - On June 11 the PawSox began a span of 32 straight games against IL North rivals through July 15 (which is just after the All-Star break). Pawtucket is 19-26 vs. their IL North foes thus far. They are 7-8 vs. the IL West and 7-2 vs. the IL South. Getting in Tune in June – The PawSox are past the midpoint of June with a 9-9 mark. They are hitting .259 (155-for-599) with 15 HR this month along with a 3.35 ERA (57 ER in 153 IP). Pawtucket, who finished 11-10 this April and 13-17 this May (hitting just .227 in May), had their best month of last season in June going 17-14. They are scheduled to play 29 games in 30 days this June. NEXT ON TAP - The probable pitching match-up for the remainder of the series vs. Buffalo at McCoy Stadium: Thur. 6:15 pm (NESN) RHP Sean Reid-Foley (2-1, 5.11) vs. RHP Justin Haley (3-6, 3.18) The probable pitching match-ups for the upcoming series vs. Syracuse at McCoy Stadium: Fri. 7:05 pm (YurView on COX & Spectrum 3) RHP Brady Dragmire (0-1, 14.40) vs. RHP William Cuevas (4-4, 3.70) Sat. 6:15 pm (myRITV) LHP Tommy Milone (3-4, 4.99) vs. RHP Chandler Shepherd (4-4, 3.36) Sun. 1:35 pm (myRIRV) RHP John Simms (2-3, 3.48) vs. LHP Jalen Beeks (4-4, 2.65) The 2018 Season-Series vs. Buffalo – The PawSox and Buffalo are even in their season-series at 5 victories apiece. Pawtucket is 3-4 here vs. the Bisons but 2-1 in Buffalo. The Bisons took 2 of 3 in Pawtucket during the first full week of the season from April 9-11, but the PawSox returned the favor by winning 2 of 3 in Buffalo at the end of the month from April 27-29. Buffalo out-lasted the PawSox on April 9, 4-3 in 12-innings in the first extra inning game at McCoy with new rules. The Sox evened things with a 3-1 victory the next night, but the Bisons captured the series outright with a 14-8 slugfest victory in the finale on the afternoon of April 11. Just over two weeks later, the PawSox went to Buffalo and won 2 of 3. That series again began with a Sox extra inning victory (9-8 in 10-innings on April 27) followed by a 6-3 Pawtucket win the next day. The Bisons avoided the sweep with a 2-0 triumph in the finale on April 29. Just over a month ago the clubs played an abbreviated 2-game series that began with a 6-5, 10-inning victory for the PawSox on May 14 and ended with a 5-4 Bisons win on May 16 to knot the season-series at 4-4. In between was the May 15 rainout that caused Tuesday night’s doubleheader – Buffalo won opener, 4-0 but Sox took nightcap, 6-0. Stats vs. the Bisons This Season – Pawtucket is hitting .229 in the 10 games vs. Buffalo this season (76-for-332) with 8 HR while PawSox pitchers are 5-5 with a 3.70 ERA vs. the Bisons (37 ER in 90 IP). Buffalo has out-scored Pawtucket, 46-45 thus far in the tight 2018 season-series. Getting to Know You –The PawSox and Bisons will meet 20 times this season…9 in Pawtucket (but with the final game between the clubs here at McCoy this year tomorrow night) and 11 in Buffalo. The Sox and Bisons will next see each other next week for a 4- game set in Buffalo from June 25-28 beginning next Monday at 7:05 pm at Coca-Cola Field in downtown Buffalo. Success vs. the Bisons Lately – Pawtucket and Buffalo have had some tight season-series in recent years. The PawSox finished 9-9 vs. the Bisons last season (going 6-5 in Pawtucket but 3-4 in Buffalo). The PawSox were 10-8 vs. the Bisons in 2016, but the Sox finished 8-9 vs. Buffalo in 2015. The 2015 season marked the only time the Sox have lost a season-series to the Bisons since 2008 when they went 6-10. Always a Battle vs. Buffalo - The all-time series (this is the 21st year) between Pawtucket and Buffalo has gone back and forth in recent times and the PawSox come into play tonight with a 169-163 advantage. These two rivals have battled for 20½ years now since Buffalo returned to the IL in 1998. The PawSox are 93-77 at home (including 0-1 at Fenway Park) vs. the Bisons but 76-86 in Buffalo since ’98. Buffalo was a Cleveland affiliate from 1998 – 2008, a New York Mets affiliate from 2009-2012, and currently a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate for the 6th straight year. Series Business – Pawtucket – even at 1-1 in this 4-game set vs. Buffalo - has posted three 3-game sweeps this season along with a 2- game sweep. They are 7-11-4 in their first 25 series of the season (7 wins, 10 losses, and 4 splits). A Hectic May - The PawSox finished an extremely busy May with a 13-17 record for the month. The topsy-turvy travel month included four different homestands and four different roadtrips. Pitchers posted a 3.60 ERA in May while batters hit .227 with 22 HR and 97 runs in 30 May games (for an average of 3.2 runs per game). The Sox played 30 games in 31 days in May with just one scheduled off-day (May 17) during the entire month. April Comes up a Winner – The PawSox posted a winning April for the 6th time in the last 8 years as they finished the month with an 11-10 record and in 2nd-place in the IL North (-2 GB of front-running Syracuse at the time). Pawtucket has had just one losing month of April since 2010 and that came last year (10-12). The Sox hit .233 in April with 16 HR in 21 games while pitchers were 11-10 with a 3.51 ERA along with a league-leading 230 strikeouts in 190 innings.