Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
Triple-A Affiliate
The Official Site of the Durham Bulls Durham Bulls

Bulls Walk Off in 14 on Franklin's Single

Durham completes sweep with 14-inning, 7-6 victory
August 21, 2015

DURHAM, NC - Shortstop Nick Franklin delivered a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the 14th inning to give the Durham Bulls a 7-6 win over the Toledo Mud Hens Friday night.

Tied 6-6 entering the bottom of the 14th, Mikie Mahtook led off the frame with a double off the Blue Monster. After a fly out, intentional walk and another fly out, Franklin ripped a single into the right-centerfield gap, scoring Mahtook and propelling Durham to a sweep of the three-game series.

Durham (62-66) hopped out to an early lead, striking for four runs in the first inning. Boog Powell led off with a bunt single, and after a groundout Taylor Motter walked to put runners on first and second. After a balk advanced both runners, Richie Shaffer drove in the pair with a double down the leftfield line for a 2-0 lead. Joey Butler then followed with an opposite-field dinger, extending Durham's lead to four.

Toledo got a run back in the second inning on an RBI single by Manny Pina, but Shaffer again extended the home side's lead with a solo dinger in the fifth. The visitors tied the contest in the top of the sixth stanza though, when Jefry Marte delivered a two-run single and Pina struck again, driving home a pair with a single of his own.

The Mud Hens (51-75) took a one-run lead in the top of the seventh on a Steven Moya double, but Durham tied the contest once again in the bottom of the eighth, when Shaffer scored on Franklin's sacrifice fly to centerfield that would have been a home run if not for a superb catch by Toledo's Daniel Fields.

Jake Elmore (1-0), who played the first 13 innings of the game at third base, earned the win by turning in a 1-2-3 inning in the 14th frame as the Bulls' pitching was depleted. The Durham bullpen combined for 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball, including seven scoreless frames to end the game. Jeff Ferrell (0-1) suffered the loss for the visitors, allowing Mahtook to score in the 14th.

Franklin finished the night 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Shaffer went 3-for-6 with three runs driven in and three runs scored.

Durham's five-game homestand continues Saturday with the first of two games against the Columbus Clippers. LHP Matt Moore (2-2, 3.86) gets the nod for Durham against RHP Toru Murata (13-4, 2.96) for Columbus. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.