Bulls Denied Sweep; Fall 5-1 at Gwinnett

Lawrenceville, GA --- Stefan Gartrell hit a two-run homer to highlight a five-run sixth as the Gwinnett Braves defeated the Durham Bulls 5-1 at Coolray Field on Friday night.

Bulls starter Mike Montgomery (L, 7-8) carried a two-hit shutout into the sixth before permitting four hits and five runs. Phil Gosselin singled home the first run, followed by a two-run double by Ernesto Mejia. With two outs, Gartrell hit his franchise-leading 54th homer, a deep two-run blast to left.

The Bulls (86-54) were blanked into the ninth when Craig Albernaz doubled home Kevin Kiermaier with two outs to make it a 5-1 game.

The Bulls mustered six hits against Gwinnett (58-83) starter Kameron Loe and Yohan Flande (W, 9-7).   Flande improved to 4-0 over eight appearances against Durham this season.

Luke Scott played his third straight game of his major league rehab at DH for the Bulls, going 2-4.

Gwinnett played its final regular season home game before a season-high 10,017 fans. The Braves conclude their season Labor Day weekend closing down Knights Stadium against Charlotte.

Durham claimed the season-series 15-6 and will continue its regular-season ending road trip at Norfolk on Saturday at 5:05 PM ET. The Bulls will resume last Friday's rain-suspended game in the second inning with no score. A seven-inning nightcap will follow.

Bulls game story brought to you by Strayer University, Bringing Home the Bulls in September.