Bulls Shutout Chiefs in Rain Shortened Affair
July 25, 2010 - International League (IL1)
Durham Bulls News Release
Durham, NC - The Bulls made it three in a row over Syracuse with a 5-0 shutout over the International League Wild Card leader on Sunday night in a rain-shortened contest. Elliot Johnson had a home run and a pair of RBI while Richard De Los Santos tossed 6.0 shutout innings to earn his ninth win of the season.
Johnson put the Bulls out in front early with his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot into the right field seats off Chiefs starter Erik Arnesen. They would add two more off the right-hander in the third inning as Desmond Jennings laced an RBI triple into the gap and came home on a sacrifice fly by Johnson to give the Bulls a 3-0 advantage.
The lead would be more than enough for De Los Santos, who walked one and allowed just five hits in six innings of work. It was his second consecutive start going six innings without allowing an earned run, and his seventh quality on the season.
Darin Downs took over for De Los Santos in the seventh inning, working two-thirds of an inning before Joe Bateman came on with runners at first and second. Bateman struck out Carlos Maldonado swinging to end the threat, and added a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless eighth to preserve the lead.
Dioner Navarro helped the Bulls put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth. With a pair of runners on against left-hander Victor Garate, a double by Navarro brought both runners across to extend the Bulls lead to five. It was first double of the season for the Bulls catcher, who finished the night 2-for-4.
After a pitching change and a walk to J.J. Furmaniak, the rains came pouring down at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The game was called with two outs in the eighth.
Bateman was credited with the save, his first of the season. The Bulls also set a season-high with three triples in the game, as Furmaniak, Jennings and Omar Luna each tallied one for the Bulls.
The two teams close out the series tomorrow as RHP Virgil Vasquez (4-1 4.95) takes on Jason Jones (1-5 6.21) as the Bulls attempt to go for the sweep. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.
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