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Notebook: Pascucci, Duda with Big Numbers

An doubleheader with some odd numbers
June 2, 2011
A Twin Bill for The Ages

Winning both ends of a doubleheader is hard to do, but the Bisons were able to take two from Gwinnett on Sunday, May 29. And, their victories of 5-3 and 2-1 came despite some amazingly odd statistics.

The Bisons had JUST TWO at-bats with runners in scoring position TOTAL for both games. They went 2-2 with one of the hits a grand slam from Valentino Pascucci in game one.

The Bisons won game two without an at-bat with a runner in scoring position. The only three hits they had were consecutive in the fourth inning: A home run by Michael Fisher, a single by Luis Hernandez (who was then picked off) and then a home run from Lucas Duda. The Bisons had no other base runners in game two.

Buffalo had just three men left on base all day, all in game one. Mike Nickeas and Luis Figueroa (in game one) were the only Bisons to stand on third base all day. Nickeas was there with his fifth-inning double and a Hernandez single before he scored on Fernando Martinez's sacrifice fly. The next batter, Figueroa, reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third on Fisher's walk and Duda's hit by pitch before Pascucci's slam.

The Bisons scored in just two innings...the only two innings all day they sent more than four batters to the plate. They went 1-2-3 in seven of the other 12 innings.

In a doubleheader against a National League team, Bisons pitchers had just one plate appearance and game one starter Brian Sweeney struck out in the third inning.

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May Powers

Valentino Pascucci...have yourself a month.

The Bisons slugger had a huge month for the Herd, knocking in 26 runs in 26 games during May. The total was the third most in the International League, behind only Columbus' Cord Phelps (28) and Charlotte's Dayan Viciedo (27).

Pascucci hit .272 (22-81) during the month and had some of the biggest hits of the Bisons season. He cashed in a season-high six RBI on May 10 against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and had a three-run double in a 6-2 win over the Knights on May 23. Last Sunday, his two-out grand slam against Gwinnett powered the Herd to another victory.

Pascucci now has 31RBI in 42 games with the Bisons this season. He had 37 in 72 contests with the Herd last season.

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Back At It

Outfielder Lucas Duda missed more than two weeks because of a mid back strain. You better believe the back is healthy considering the power numbers he's carried since returning to the lineup.

Duda was activated on May 28 and in six games since he has hit .471 (8-17) with a double, four home runs and seven RBI. He hit a pair of home runs and drove in four on Wednesday in Charlotte to power the Herd to a 10-3 win.

Duda's seven home runs in 2011 give him 24 in his first 100 games at the Triple-A level. And that is even without a home run in his first 15 games with the Bisons this season.

For daily game notes and more information on the Bisons, follow Bisons Blog, managed by "The Voice of the Bisons," Ben Wagner. Also, stay up to date at twitter.com/BuffaloBisons.

-the herd-