Bullpen Bails out Bulls in 6-3 Win
April 30, 2017 - International League (IL1)
Durham Bulls News Release
DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls worked their way out of several late jams to squeak out a victory Saturday night, as the Bulls bested the visiting Buffalo Bisons 6-3 in front of 9,351 fans at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The first-place Bulls recorded their fifth straight win despite their normally robust offense being held to just one extra-base hit. Instead, Durham relied on seven singles, a season-high five stolen bases, one double, and some sloppy defense by Buffalo to cobble together their six tallies. The Bulls pitching staff meanwhile stranded five men on the base paths over the final three innings to preserve the victory.
Buffalo plated the first run on the night in the top of the third, when Christian Lopes lined an RBI double to put the road team ahead 1-0. Durham came back with two unearned runs in the bottom of the inning, with errors by Bisons second baseman Jake Elmore and shortstop Shane Opitz allowing both Jake Hager and Jake Bauers to score and put the Bulls ahead 2-1.
The Bisons quickly responded the next half inning, using an RBI base knock by Alex Monslave to tie the game at 2-2. The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the fifth, when the Bulls used two singles, a walk, and three stolen bases to bring home two runs and take the lead for good at 4-2. The first run of the frame came on a double steal, with Bauers swiping second base and Willy Adames stealing home. One batter later, Patrick Leonard laced an RBI single to put the home team up by two.
Buffalo looked poised to tie the game or take the lead in the seventh, as the road team loaded the bases with nobody out. Reliever Adam Kolarek was able to pull the Bulls out of the jam however, as the left-hander struck out two and recorded a groundout to strand the bases loaded and maintain Durham's two-run advantage.
The Bulls stretched their advantage to 5-2 in the seventh when Adames walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The next half inning, Buffalo scored a run on an RBI double by Rowdy Tellez and once again appeared on the verge of a big rally, but reliever Jeff Ames escaped the jam with a pair of punch outs and a groundout to keep Durham ahead 5-3. The Bulls picked up one last insurance run on an RBI double by Hager in the bottom of the eighth to finish off their 6-3 victory.
Hager paced the Bulls' bats with a 2-5 game including a double, RBI, and run scored, while Granded Goetzmen finished 2-4 as well.
Reliever Yoel Espinal (2-0) picked up the win for Durham with one run allowed on three hits, three walks, and one strikeout over three innings pitched, while Diego Moreno (4) recorded the save with a perfect ninth. Buffalo starter Brett Oberholtzer (0-1) took the loss after giving up four runs, two earned, on six hits, three walks, four strikeouts over five innings pitched.
The Bulls (16-6) will go for the three-game sweep of the Bisons (13-8) Sunday evening, with RHP Brent Honeywell (1-1, 3.86) taking on RHP Luis Santos (0-2, 5.40) at 5:05 pm.
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