Bulls Win Fifth Straight, Rout Redbirds 15-3
May 8, 2021 - International League (IL) - Durham Bulls News Release
MEMPHIS, TN - Durham plated fourteen unanswered runs and clubbed five home runs, with second baseman Vidal Brujan going deep from both sides of the plate while driving in five, and center fielder Ryan Boldt, third baseman Kevin Padlo and shortstop Wander Franco leaving the yard as well, as the Bulls improved to 5-0 in a 15-3 rout of the Memphis Redbirds on Saturday evening at AutoZone Park.
It is Durham's first 5-0 start since 2009, a season that ended with Durham winning the Triple-A Championship over the Redbirds. The Bulls entered the night as the only undefeated Triple-A East squad and one of just six minor league teams to begin the year 4-0.
The switch-hitting Brujan (3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB) blasted his first longball of the evening from the right side to break a 3-3 tie in the fourth, with his second coming as a left-handed batter in the ninth. He is the first Bulls player to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game since Emilio Bonifacio accomplished that feat on July 11, 2019. Brujan is also the third Durham batter to homer twice in a game this season after Padlo and OF Josh Lowe did so in Saturday's win over Memphis.
Boldt (2-4, R, HR, 4 RBI) joined Brujan and six other Bulls batters in posting multi-hit efforts, with Padlo (2-6, R, HR, 2 RBI) and Franco (2-6, R, HR, RBI) also exiting the yard. Durham has bashed five home runs in each of their last two games, outscoring Memphis 28-8 in that stretch.
Six Bulls relievers combined to record the final seven scoreless frames, with Phoenix Sanders (2.0 IP, 2 K) earning his first victory of 2021. Memphis lefty Zack Thompson (3.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) suffered the defeat.
Durham and Memphis are slated to face off in the series finale of their six-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05pm ET. RHP Chris Ellis (0-0, 7.71) is scheduled to toe the rubber for the Bulls, while the Redbirds are expected to send RHP Johan Oviedo to the hill.
Following Durham's road series in Memphis, the Bulls are set to return to Durham Bulls Athletic Park to begin their 2021 home slate versus the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Tuesday, May 11. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm. Tickets with socially-distanced seating for that game and all Bulls home games in May are available at durhambulls.com.
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