Bush's Early Homer no Match for Blalock's Strong Outing
Published on May 2, 2026 under International League (IL)
Durham Bulls News Release
Durham, NC - Bradley Blalock struck out a career-high 12 over six innings to lead the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp past the Durham Bulls 7-3 at the DBAP on Saturday night.
Blalock (W, 1-2) surrendered a two-out homer in the Durham (11-21) first inning to Homer Bush, then retired the next 15 batters, including seven straight on strikeouts. Two Jumbo Shrimp (16-16) relievers combined on the final three hitless innings to close out the win.
After Alex Cook opened the game with a scoreless first inning, Logan Workman (L, 0-4) pitched in and out of trouble over his five inning, 100-pitch effort. Jacksonville scored four times in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead, then pushed across three unearned runs in the seventh.
Gavin Lux drilled a two-run shot to right in the sixth to pull Durham within 4-3.
But in the Shrimp seventh, Trevor Martin saw an infield hit, error and walk load the bases before inducing a 5-2-3 double play before Jacksonville strung three straight hits together to go ahead 7-3.
Durham managed just two hits in the game, both home runs, and stranded only one baserunner in the loss.
The series concludes Sunday at 1:05 PM ET with Aaron Brooks (0-0, 12.27) slated to start against Ryan Gusto (2-2, 5.19).
Notes: The Bulls were one-hit on Friday night and mustered two on Saturday... Blalock had never fanned more than nine over his career, but whiffed 12 over six innings on Saturday...
Bush's first inning homer was his first since August 31, 2024, a span of 528 at-bats. Bush did not homer in 2025 at Double-A.
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