The Bisons' last-gasp bid for the IL wildcard kicks off tonight at 5:30 with a doubleheader against North Division champion Scranton/Wilkes-Barre here at sultry Coca-Cola Field. Buffalo is four games out with seven to play. Good luck with that, especially now that heart-of-the-order man Lucas Duda has been called up to the Mets. Duda is batting seventh in left field for the Mets tonight in Atlanta.
But give the Amazins credit yet again for keeping the Bisons fully stocked. Replacing Duda on the roster is 24-year-old infielder Zach Lutz, the Mets' fifth-round pick in 2007. He was batting .289 with 17 homers and 42 RBIs in 61 games at Double-A Binghamton. Lutz, who has been battling foot problems all year as this ESPNNY.com story details, was tied with current Buffalo first baseman Nick Evans for the B-Mets' home run lead.
Jesus Feliciano continues his run for the IL batting title and is 28 plate appearances shy of qualifying. He is currently batting .339 and the qualified leader, Gwinnett's Barbaro Canizares is at .338. Feliciano is batting .384 at home.
The Yankees, meanwhile, called up closer Jonathan Albaladejo (IL-record 43 saves), IF Greg Golson and C Chad Moeller from Scranton. Top prospect Jesus Montero (.284-18-66) remains in Triple-A and is the DH in tonight's opener.
Here's the Buffalo lineup for Game One:
Jesus Feliciano, rf
Justin Turner, ss
Russ Adams, 2b
Nick Evans, 1b
Val Pascucci, dh
Mike Cervenak, lf
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, cf
Zach Lutz, 3b
J.R. House, c
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Raul Valdes, p
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
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Bisons/Mets | International League
