Bulls Beat Back Gwinnett, 5-4

Lawrenceville, GA --- The Durham Bulls rallied twice to defeat first place Gwinnett 5-4 in their series openner at Coolray Field on Monday night.

Gwinnett (9-3) took a 2-0 lead after two innings against Bulls starter Matt Andriese (W, 1-1) before the Bulls (7-5) began their first comeback.

After Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (L, 1-1) faced the minimum through three innings, Mikie Mahtook started his three-hit night with an infield single. After two outs were recorded, Richie Shaffer drew a walk ahead of a run-scoring single by Nick Franklin to trim the deficit to 2-1. Jake Goebbert then blooped ina game-tying single to right field.

Gwinnett took a 3-2 lead inthe fifth before the Bulls rallied again. Foltynewicz walked the first two hitters in the sixth before being relieved. Nick Franklin singled to load the bases before a double play grounder scored the tying run. Joel De La Cruz then tossed a wild pitch to score Shaffer giving Durham a 4-3 lead.

Kyle Roller hit a solo home run in the ninth for a 5-3 lead, with Ryan Garton (S, 1) holding on for the save in the bottom half. The Braves connected three straight singles with two outs before Blake Lalli flied out to end the game.

The Bulls moved to within two games of first place Gwinnett.

Jamie Schultz (1-0, 1.74) starts Tuesday night for Durham against Aaron Blair (2-0, 2.25) at 7:05 PM ET.