Bulls Drub Lehigh Valley in Series Opener

The Durham Bulls had their biggest offensive outburst in 11 games with a 12-6 win over Lehigh Valley Friday night at the DBAP. Durham pounded out 15 hits and Wil Myers drove in four runs in front of a season-high paid crowd of 9,644.

After jumping out to a 5-0 lead, it took a while for the Bulls to put away the IronPigs though. Singles by Brandon Guyer and Mike Fontenot opened the game, and then Myers hit a blast into the second-floor balcony of the Diamond View II building in left for his fourth home run of the season and first since April 30.

The Bulls added two more runs in the second inning on a two-run Fontenot single. But Lehigh wasn't going to go away easily. The Iron Pigs scored two each in the fourth and sixth to cut the Bulls lead to one. Bulls starter Jake Odorizzi (W, 4-0, 2.97) left in the sixth with three runs allowed on seven hits but did enough to earn his fourth win.

The Bulls matched Lehigh Valley's two-spot with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth on two IronPig errors. 

The three-run lead didn't last long however, as IronPigs left fielder Pete Orr tripled in two runs in the seventh to cut the lead to 7-6. Durham matched the output in the bottom of the seventh. Guyer singled in a run to cap a 4-for-5 night, and another Lehigh error plated an unearned run.

The Bulls added three more in the eighth when Tim Beckham's bases-loaded single and Cole Figueroa's double put the game out of reach.

In addition to Guyer and Myers, Bulls standouts included Fontenot, who went 3-for-6 with 3 RBI, and catcher Craig Albernaz, who went 3-for-5 with three runs and threw out two baserunners.

 The series continues at the DBAP on Saturday with a 5:05pm start. RHP Chris Archer (4-1, 4.06) starts for Durham against Lehigh's Ethan Martin (2-2, 6.35).