Bulls Win 7-4 on Strength of Four Homers

Duncan Hits Snorting Bull; Myers Finishes a Double Shy of Cycle

June 2, 2013

The first place Durham Bulls hit a season-high four home runs to beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 7-4 on Sunday at the DBAP. One of those round trippers, off the bat of Shelley Duncan, tagged the famous Snorting Bull sign above the Blue Monster in left field.

Continuing a trend that has led to a win each time it has happened this homestand, the Bulls scored in the first inning for the sixth time in the last seven games. Vince Belnome reached on a two-out error by Scranton pitcher Brett Marshall (L, 2-4, 7.27). The miscue came back to haunt the RailRiders as Wil Myers hit his 10^th home run of the year, just to the left of the Snorting Bull in left field.

The Bull was not out of danger, however. Duncan led off the second inning with a homer that hit the bull dead center, earning him and a lucky fan a steak dinner from the Capital City Chop House.

Myers would add a single and RBI triple later in the game, finishing a double shy of the cycle after the eighth inning ended with him in the on-deck circle. The Rays top prospect has 15 RBI in the last seven games.

Adding to the power supplied by the heart of the order, Cole Figueroa hit a two-run homer to right field, and Juan Apodaca followed with a solo shot that bounced off Diamond View III in left field just below the second-floor window. It was the first time the Bulls had back-to-back home runs since August 20, 2012, when Henry Wrigley and Leslie Anderson did it. Tim Beckham and Figueroa also hit home runs in that August 20 game against Charlotte at the DBAP, which was the last time Durham had four home runs in a game before Sunday.

Starter Mike Montgomery (W, 2-0, 5.03) won for the second time since returning from the disabled list three starts ago. He allowed 3 runs and 6 hits in 6 innings before giving way to Juan Sandoval and Kirby Yates.

The Bulls lead the RailRiders 2-1 in the four-game series at the DBAP. They'll play the finale at 1:05pm on Monday afternoon. RHP Matt Buschmann (0-0, 0.00), who saved the opening game of the series, starts for the Bulls against RHP Kelvin Perez (0-3, 6.06) for Scranton.