Bulls Roll, Continue DBAP Dominance of Braves

The first-place Durham Bulls moved to 9-0 against the Gwinnett Braves at the DBAP this season with a 11-3 win Saturday night. The Bulls have won three one-run games against the Braves at home, and Saturday was their third win by six runs or more. Durham has outscored Gwinnett 54-25 at the DBAP this year.

The win clinched a winning record this season for the Bulls, their first since 2011, and the earliest the Bulls have clinched a winning record since they joined the Triple-A classification. Their previous best was August 12, 2010, in game 117.

Durham took an early lead against the Braves with in the second inning against Kameron Loe (L, 4-3, 3.50). Singles by Chris Gimenez and Kevin Kiermaier and a walk to Evan Frey loaded the bases. Tim Beckham drove in two with a single, and Cole Figueroa followed with an RBI single of his own. Beckham went 2-for-4 on the night with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. Figueroa went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI.

The Braves tightened the game with two runs in the third off of starter Mike Montgomery (W, 6-5, 4.28), but the Bulls added two unearned runs in the fourth, then erupted for four in the fifth to break the game open.

Montgomery struck out 4 in 6 innings to win for just the second time since the start of July. He had lost four of five decisions over that span.

Rehabbing Rays reliever Brandon Gomes pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one, giving him four strikeouts in two innings with the Bulls this year.

The Bulls and Braves conclude their brief two-game series on Sunday at 5:05pm. RHP Merrill Kelly (6-1, 2.55) starts for the Bulls against Gwinnett's LHP Yohan Flande (6-6, 4.68).

Bulls game story brought to you by Strayer University, Bringing Home the Bulls in September.