Bulls Drop Second Straight One-Run Contest

DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls dropped the final game of an eight-game homestand 5-4 to the Louisville Bats on Tuesday afternoon, as the visitors took the series three games to one.

Durham (26-21) took the first lead of the game, as Mikie Mahtook delivered an RBI groundout in the third inning to score Hak-Ju Lee. Bulls starter Doug Mathis made that score hold until the fifth, when Bryan Anderson cracked a homer over the right field wall to tie the game at 1-1.

One inning later Louisville's Donald Lutz rocketed a Jim Patterson pitch into the right field stands for a three-run homer that put Louisville (22-23) on top 4-1.

The Bulls cut the margin to one on a two-run homer by Lee in the seventh frame, his first dinger since April 13 of last season. Then in the ninth the teams traded runs while Durham put the tying run on base, but Adam Russell notched his second save of the season to preserve the Louisville victory.

Nick Christiani (2-0) earned the win for the Bats, tossing two scoreless innings in relief of starter Curtis Partch. Patterson (1-1) took the loss, surrendering three runs on two hits in 1 2/3 innings, ending his string of 8 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

After an off day on Wednesday, the Bulls hit the road for eight games, starting at 7:05 p.m. Thursday in Columbus. LHP Enny Romero (2-4, 4.75) starts for the Bulls against RHP Kyle Davies (1-2, 3.26) for the Clippers. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

Bullet Points: The series win marked the first time the Bats won a series at the DBAP since 2005… Durham finished the homestand 4-4… Bulls infielder Wilson Betemit saw an eight-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-4 day… With his sixth inning single, Mahtook finished the homestand 11-for-32 with nine RBIs.