Bulls Drop Home Opener to Lehigh Valley
IL Durham Bulls

Bulls Drop Home Opener to Lehigh Valley

Published on March 31, 2026 under International League (IL)
Durham Bulls News Release


Durham, NC - The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs spoiled the 2026 International League home opener for Durham, defeating the Bulls 4-3 at the DBAP on Tuesday night.

The Bulls (0-4) spotted the Iron Pigs (4-0) a 2-0 lead in the first when a pair of leadoff walks scored against first-time starter KC Hunt (L, 0-1). Carter Kieboom blooped in a run-scoring single followed by an RBI-double from Caleb Ricketts.

Logan Davidson scraped the Blue Monster for a double to chase home Raynel Delgado in the second to trim the deficit to 2-1.

The Iron Pigs picked up another run against Hunt in the third to make it 3-1, then stretched to 4-1 on a fifth inning double by Liover Peguero off of reliever Jonny Cuevas.

The Bulls started to rally in the sixth when Dom Keegan drilled a run-scoring single to center to score Jacob Melton from second base.

Trailing 4-2 in the ninth, Delgado legged out an infield hit, followed by Logan Davidson getting hit on the right foot by a pitch to put the tying runs on. After a double steal, Edward Olivares walked to load the bases against reliever Seth Johnson. Pinch-hitter Blake Sabol bounced into a force play, but beat the return throw at first base to keep the game alive and score Delgado to make it 4-3. But Victor Mesa Jr. fanned on a fastball from Johnson (S, 1) to close out Durham's fourth straight loss to open the season.

Former Bull and Tampa Bay reliever Trevor Richards (W, 1-0) notched the win in relief by retiring all six batters he faced, four on strikeouts.

The six-game series continues on Wednesday night with Jesse Scholtens slated to oppose Bryse Wilson at 6:45 PM ET.

Notes: KC Hunt was acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays from Milwaukee in exchange for Jake Woodford just eight days ago. Hunt arrived at the DBAP earlier Tuesday afternoon ahead of his first start in the Rays organization. Hunt's first eight pitches were out of the zone to start the game, and both runners scored. Hunt, who went 7-9 at Double-A Biloxi last season, worked 2 1/3 innings in his debut, throwing 60 pitches, walking five, fanning two and allowing three runs... Cam Hill, who made his first aǘliated appearance in 4 1/2 years on Friday in Charlotte, worked three scoreless innings on Tuesday... Rene Pinto, who played 215 games across four seasons with Durham, started behind the plate for Lehigh Valley. He made his major league debut for Tampa Bay in 2022.... Trevor Richards earned the win in relief for Lehigh Valley. Richards pitched for the Bulls and Rays earlier in his career between 2019 and 2021.... Tuesday's game pivoted in the fourth inning, when with Keegan aboard with one out, Delgado appeared to bunt for a hit against starter Jean Cabrera, who threw wildly past first base, sending Keegan to third. However, home plate umpire Tyler Jones ruled Delgado out for running inside the running lane on his penultimate stride toward the base. With Keegan sent back to first base, Logan Davidson then bounced out to end the inning.

Check out the Durham Bulls Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from March 31, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central