Bulls Ride Rain Delay, Homers to Victory

DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls erased a two-run deficit after a 45-minute rain delay to defeat the Gwinnett Stripers 6-2 Sunday evening at the DBAP. Colin Poche (1-2) earned the win for the Bulls, while Bryse Wilson (0-3) suffered the loss.
The Stripers were quick to jump on Bulls starter Aaron Slegers, who allowed walks to two of the first three batters of the game, before allowing an RBI single to Adam Duvall to make it 1-0. Pedro Florimón added another run on an RBI sacrifice-fly to give Stripers Wilson a 2-0 cushion.
The second inning was marred by a rain delay, but when the Bulls returned to action, their bats woke up. Jason Coats got the scoring started with a solo home run over the Blue Monster to cut the deficit to one. The scoring continued in the fourth inning, where an RBI single by Jake Smolinski tied the game and a sacrifice-fly by Nick Ciuffo gave the Bulls the lead for good at 3-2.
Coats picked up his second RBI of the day to extend the lead to 4-2. Kean Wong put away the game with a solo home run in the fifth, and Smolinski recorded his second RBI on a sacrifice fly later in the frame to take a 6-2 lead.
Slegers went 4.0 innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs, while walking two and striking out two. Poche, Austin Pruitt and Andrew Kittredge combined for five innings of relief, allowing one hit, walking two and striking out nine.
The Bulls and Stripers have split the first four games of the series and will play the rubber match at 1:05 p.m. on Monday at the DBAP.