DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls swept the Saturday night doubleheader against the Gwinnett Stripers, by winning game one 11-2 and game two 3-2 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.In game one, the Bulls responded quickly to a leadoff home run by Gwinnett's Rafael Ortega. Nick Solak put the Bulls on
DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls swept the Saturday night doubleheader against the Gwinnett Stripers, by winning game one 11-2 and game two 3-2 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
In game one, the Bulls responded quickly to a leadoff home run by Gwinnett's Rafael Ortega. Nick Solak put the Bulls on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game up at 1-1.
In the fourth inning, Solak continued the scoring with an RBI double to make it 2-1. The Bulls got more runs from catcher Dashenko Ricardo, in his first game with the Bulls, on a three-run home run to open up the game by a score of 5-1.
The floodgates opened in the fifth inning, with three home runs by the Bulls to put the game out of reach. Jake Smolinski got things started with a three-run home run, before Jason Coats added his first on a solo home run. Andrew Velazquez ended the massive inning with his second home run of the season to increase the lead to 11-1. A late solo home run by Adam Duvall wasn't enough for Gwinnett and Bulls finished the game with an 11-2 win.
Ryan Merritt (1-1) earned the win with five innings of one-run ball, and Kolby Allard (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits over four innings.
Game two was a pitching duel, with the Bulls and Stripers combining for just seven hits and five runs. Elian Leyva got the start for Gwinnett, holding the Bulls in check over 2.2 innings, allowing one hit and striking out four. The Bulls split the game between five pitchers, totaling 12 strikeouts and allowing just two runs on five hits.
Stripers infielder Jack Lopez got the scoring started with an RBI single in the second inning and Pedro Florimón added to the lead in the fifth inning with a solo home run to make it 2-0. The Bulls offense mounted a comeback in the sixth inning, loading the bases off Stripers reliever Corbin Clouse. Infielder Kean Wong delivered a clutch two-out, three-RBI double off the Blue Monster to put the Bulls in front for good.
Hoby Milner (1-0) picked up the victory in relief for Durham after spinning 1.2 scoreless innings, and Oliver Drake earned his second win of the campaign with a scoreless seventh. Corbin Clouse (0-1) took the loss after surrendering three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The Bulls will wrap up their series against the Gwinnett Stripers on Sunday night at 5:05 p.m., before heading out for a road trip beginning on Tuesday.
