Pawtucket, RI --- Jason Coats drilled a line drive home run against the left field foul pole in the fifth inning for the game's only run as Durham shut out Pawtucket 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium.With the wind blowing in from right field all day, Coats clotheslined his
Pawtucket, RI --- Jason Coats drilled a line drive home run against the left field foul pole in the fifth inning for the game's only run as Durham shut out Pawtucket 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at McCoy Stadium.
With the wind blowing in from right field all day, Coats clotheslined his 10th home run of the season down the left field line against Justin Haley (L, 5-8) to give the Bulls (69-54) a 1-0 edge.
Pawtucket (59-65) amassed two chances in the eighth and ninth, but was shut down by Andrew Kittredge and Jaime Schlultz (S, 1).
In the eighth Josh Ockimey singled to right and advanced to third on a hit against the left field wall by Mike Miller. But left fielder Micah Johnson retrieved the hit and threw out Miller in an attempt for a double. Kittredge then fanned Aneury Tararez, but a wild pitch allowed him to reach first, with Ockimey holding at third. Dan Bulter popped out to first baseman Nate Lowe, followed by a flyout to left by Tzu-Wei Lin.
Schultz entered the game in the ninth with two career saves. Tony Renda fanned on a 3-2 pitch to start the inning before Rusney Castillo singled to center on a 3-2 delivery. With Sam Travis in the batter's box, Castillo broke early for second base, but Schultz's throw short-hopped Brandon Snyder covering the bag, allowing Castilo to move into scoring position. Travis proceeded to fly out to right-center, moving Castillo to third. After a mound visit, Ivan DeJesus flied to right on the first pitch to end the game.
After permitting 13 runs to the PawSox in the first 14 innings of the four-game series, the Bulls fired 20 consecutive scoreless innings to close out the series split.
Durham maintained a 4 1/2 game lead in the South over Norfolk, which edged out a 7-6 win over Scranton. With 16 games remaining in the regular season, the Bulls schedule features entirely South Division foes, with five against Gwinnett, three at Charlotte and eight against the second place Tides, including the final four of the regular season.
Austin Meadows had a double and a single to lead the four-hit Bulls afternoon. Austin Pruitt worked four scoreless innings, permitting one hit and one walk with six strikeouts during his first start since May 9th.
Hoby Milner (W, 1-0) registered the win witha perfect fifth inning, striking out two.
Monday is Durham's final off-day of the regular season, and returns home for a busy five-game, three-day series against third place Gwinnett. Tuesday's 6:05 PM ET doubleheader is expected to feature Chih-Wei Hu and Jake Faria starting for Durham.
