Bulls Steer Past Tides 7-5

Bulls designated hitter Deivy Grullon and second baseman Esteban Quiroz each homered, while shortstop Wander Franco clubbed two triples to extend his hit streak to thirteen games in Durham’s 7-5 victory over the Norfolk Tides on Wednesday evening at Harbor Park.

After LF Vidal Brujan walked to lead off the contest, Franco smashed an RBI triple to right in the opening frame to bring home Brujan and start the scoring. After the Tides countered with a single score in the last of the first, Grullon mashed a two-run shot in the fourth to put Durham ahead 3-1. Both teams would then trade a pair of tallies in the fifth, including a two-run single by CF Josh Lowe, before Quiroz crushed a two-run blast of his own in the sixth to make it 7-3. Norfolk’s single tallies in the seventh and eighth would narrow the margin to two.

Franco (2-4, R, 2 3B, RBI, BB), Grullon (2-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB) and Lowe (2-5, 2 RBI) each posted two hits in the victory. Franco since his streak began on June 1 has hit .423 (22-52) with eight runs, five doubles, three triples, three homers and 14 RBI.

Bulls starter Shane Baz (4.0 IP, 4 H, R, ER, BB, 5 K) did not factor in the decision in his Triple-A debut, while reliever Brent Honeywell Jr. (2.0 IP, H, R, ER) earned the win and Drew Rasmussen (1.0 IP, 3 K) notched the save by striking out the side in the ninth. Norfolk starter Kevin Smith (4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) suffered the defeat in his first career Triple-A start.

The two teams are scheduled to continue their series on Thursday afternoon with a 12:05pm start time. RHP Joe Ryan (2-2, 4.21) is expected to get the nod for Durham, while RHP Mickey Jannis (0-1, 2.75) is anticipated to toe the rubber for Norfolk.

The Bulls are scheduled to return to Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Tuesday, June 29 to start a six-game series with the Gwinnett Stripers. First pitch of that game is slated for 6:35pm ET. Tickets for that game and all remaining Bulls home games are now available at durhambulls.com.