Bisons release ’09 schedule
It will be at least a couple of weeks before the Buffalo Bisons know who their parent club will be for 2009 but the Herd already knows its season opener will be April 9 against the Pawtucket Red Sox in Dunn Tire Park.
The Bisons announced their complete ’09 schedule Saturday and the opener is part of an eight-game homestand featuring four games against Pawtucket and four against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Although the schedule is heavy in April and May home games (32 dates), it’s also heavy on weekend contests as the Herd will host 12 Friday night affairs, 10 Saturdays and 10 Sundays.
Buffalo will host regular-season home games in September for the first time since 2003 (Sept. 1 versus Rochester and Sept. 2-3 versus Scranton/Wilkes-Barre). The season ends with a four-game series at Lehigh Valley from Sept. 4-7.
The Bisons are expected to sign a new affiliation with either Toronto or the New York Mets next month while the Cleveland Indians, who have been with Buffalo since 1995, are expected to go to Columbus.
The Clippers are scheduled to play in Buffalo next season May 21-24 and the Bisons make their debut at new Huntington Park on Aug. 6-9.
The complete schedule: April: 9-12, Pawtucket; 13-16, Scranton/ W-B; 17-20, at Syracuse; 21-22, at Scranton/W-B; 24-27,Syracuse; 28-29,at Rochester; 30, Louisville.
May: 1-3, Louisville; 4-7, at Lehigh Valley; 8-11, Norfolk; 12-15, Gwinnett; 16-19, at Pawtucket; 21-24, Columbus; 25-28, Lehigh Valley; 29-31 at Durham.
June: 1, at Durham; 2-5, at Norfolk; 6-9, Indianapolis; 11-14, Durham; 15 (DH)-16, at Syracuse; 17-18, Syracuse; 19-22, at Charlotte; 23-26, at Gwinnett; 27-30, Charlotte.
July: 2-3, Rochester; 4-6, at Rochester; 7-8,Scranton/W-B; 9-10,at Pawtucket; 11-12, at Scranton/W-B; 16-19, Toledo; 20-23, at Louisville; 24-27, at Indianapolis; 28-31, Pawtucket.
August: 1-4, at Toledo; 6-9, at Columbus; 10-13, Rochester; 14-17, Lehigh Valley; 18, at Syracuse; 20-21, Syracuse; 22-25, at Scranton/W-B; 26-27, at Pawtucket; 28-30, at Rochester; 31, Rochester.
September: 1, Rochester; 2-3, Scranton/ W-B; 4-7, at Lehigh Valley.
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On the field, the team continued its final road trip of the 2008 season with an 11-10 win in 10 innings Saturday night in Pawtucket.
The game featured 36 hits, split evenly. Michael Aubrey of the Herd had the biggest one. His single in top of the 10th drove home Jordan Brown with the game-winning run.
The Bisons open their final series tonight in Rochester’s Frontier Field (7 p. m., TWC13, Radio 1520 AM).
