Bulls Drop 2nd Straight To Pawtucket, 5-3

Pawtucket, RI --- Early longballs cost the Durham Bulls again, falling for the second game in a row to the Pawtucket Red Sox 5-3 on Friday night at McCoy Stadium.
On Thursday, the PawSox (59-63) utilized a first inning grand slam to seize command en route to an 8-2 victory. Friday night, Sam Travis and Cole Sturgeon hit second inning home runs against Forrest Snow (L, 5-8) for a 3-0 lead, which the PawSox never relinquished.
The Bulls (67-54) trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in the fourth inning when Brandon Snyder banged a single against the left field wall to score Andrew Velazquez. Pawtucket retrieved that run in the bottom half of the fourth on a groundout by Dan Butler.
Trailing 4-1 in the sixth, Austin Meadows ripped a two-run home run to right field, his fifth home run in 15 games since his trade from Pittsburgh.
But the PawSox picked off another run in the bottom of the sixth against Snow for the final margin.
Snow permitted five runs over his six innings. Ruben Alaniz threw two innings, fanning six.
Christian Arroyo had two of the eight Durham hits. Andrew Velazquez finished 3-4, scoring two of the Bulls' three runs.
With the second place Norfolk Tides rained out, the Bulls' South Division lead was carved to just three games.
The four-game series continues Saturday night with Ryan Weber (7-5, 2.61) opposing Josh Haley (5-7, 3.90) at 6:15 PM ET.