Bulls Fall to IronPigs for Second Straight Loss

DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls fell to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7-1 in front of 11,091 fans Saturday night at the DBAP, dropping their second straight game.

The IronPigs (44-32) broke a scoreless tie in the third inning when JP Crawford and Nick Williams notched back-to-back doubles down the right field line. In the fourth the visitors made it a 2-0 contest when Darnell Sweeney grounded out to score Andrew Knapp, who had singled to lead off the frame.

The Bulls (34-43) got on the board in the fifth, as JP Arencibia led off the frame with a single, advanced to second on a Luke Maile single, and scored on Juniel Querecuto's base knock to left field. Lehigh Valley came back with a run in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk though, and tacked on another run in the seventh on a Darin Ruf sacrifice fly for a 4-1 ballgame.

In the eighth inning Lehigh Valley extended its lead to 6-1 on an errant pickoff throw that scored Sweeney, and an RBI single by Crawford, while a bases-loaded walk closed the scoring in the ninth. Durham pitching issued 11 walks on the evening, the most in a game since 2014.

Anthony Vasquez (1-0) earned the win for the 'Pigs, scattering seven hits across 6 1/3 innings and allowing just one run. Justin Marks (2-6) took the loss for Durham despite striking out 11 batters, surrendering three runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Daniel Robertson went 2-for-4 in the loss, as the Bulls went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and managed just one run for the second straight night.

The series - and the Bulls' seven-game homestand - comes to a close Sunday at 5:05 p.m., when RHP Jake Faria (NR) makes his Triple-A debut for the Bulls opposite RHP Jake Thompson (6-5, 3.09) for the IronPigs.

###

Every team wants a five-tool player. Finding future all-stars is hard, but health insurance doesn't have to be. Because Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has the tools to make using health care easy.