Bulls, Hellickson Fall In Indianapolis; Blanked 4-0

Indianapolis, IN --- AJ Morris threw his first-ever complete game, tossing a six-hitter to lead Indianapolis over the Durham Bulls 4-0 on Thursday night.

Indianapolis jumped on 2011 American League Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson (L, 0-1) for three in the first inning, then watched Morris, 27, throw a 97-pitch complete game in just his second Triple-A start.

Hellickson, rebounding from arthroscopic elbow surgery in the off-season, used 30 of his designated 60 pitches in the first inning. After retiring the first hitter, Hellickson surrendered three straight hits, including a two-run single to Matt Hague. Later in the frame, Brent Morel singled into right field to bring Hague home for a 3-0 Indians (40-27) lead.

After a perfect second, Hellickson faced three hitters in the third before he was replaced by Matt Andriese. Chris Dickerson singled, then was doubled in by a deep drive to left-center to put the Indians up 4-0. 

Andriese went the rest of the way for the Bulls (40-29), throwing 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball to lower his ERA to 3.06.

The Bulls offense, meanwhile, existed purely in the form of Cole Figueroa for the first six innings. Figueroa connected for three singles his first three times up, but was stranded in scoring position each time. The Bulls went 0-9 with runners in scoring position during the game, and have managed just one run in the first two games of the series.

Hellickson is expected to make two more rehab starts for the Bulls, with his next outing slated for Tuesday night at Louisville.

The series continues on Friday night at 7:15 PM ET from Victory Field.