Braves Deal Bulls Major Setback, 1-0

Lawrenceville, GA --- Daniel Castro singled home the game's only run in the 11th inning as first place Gwinnett defeated Durham 1-0 on Thursday night at Coolray Field.

Castro singled against Bulls reliever Adam Kolarek (L, 0-2) to bring home Matt Lipka, who singled to start the inning. Mel Rojas doubled past the reach of third baseman Taylor Motter to push Lipka to third ahead of a walk to fill the bases. After bringing in left fielder Johnny Field as a fifth infielder, Castro drove a Kolarek pitch to deep left field for the game-winning single.

The Braves (64-75) reduced their magic number to clinching the South to three over second place Charlotte, while the Bulls (61-79) fell 3 1/2 off the pace with four regular season games to play. A combination of two more Gwinnett wins and/or Durham losses would eliminate the Bulls from South Division contention. The Bulls play two more games against the Braves Friday and Saturday.

Durham managed just two hits in the extra inning defeat. The best scoring chance for the Bulls was in the sixth inning thanks to three consecutive walks against reliever Bradley Roney, but Casey Gillaspie bounced into a double play to end the threat.  

Williams Perez started for Gwinnett, tossing five hitless innings. Durham's first hit did not occur until a single by Motter in the seventh.

Dana Eveland threw 46 pitches over three scoreless innings in his first start in over a year. Eveland's previous high was 32 pitches in a relief appearance for the Bulls earlier in 2016.

The Bulls will attempt to stave off elimination Friday night with Jacob Faria starting against Wilfredo Boscan at 7:05 PM ET.