Durham Blanks Norfolk 8-0 For 9th Straight Win

Bulls center fielder Garrett Whitley walloped three hits, including a home run, and shortstop Mike Brosseau bashed two hits, including a longball, while starting pitcher Tommy Romero continued his sensational stretch by earning his fifth straight win with five shutout innings, combining with relievers Joel Peguero, Brian Moran and Shawn Armstrong for Durham’s fourteenth shutout win of the year in a 5-0 victory over the Norfolk Tides on Thursday afternoon at Harbor Park.

With the win, the Bulls’ record is now 7-0 in the Triple-A Final Stretch postseason with three games remaining, keeping Durham as the only undefeated team left in the tournament. The Triple-A Final Stretch features all 30 Triple-A clubs playing a pair of five-game series. The club with the best winning percentage over that period will be declared Triple-A Final Stretch Champion. Should two teams tie for the best winning percentage in that span, the squad with the best regular season win percentage would be declared the victor.

Romero (5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K) earned his fifth consecutive win dating back to September 4 and has yielded a lone earned run in his 29 1/3 innings in that span, adding 36 strikeouts compared to five walks and ten hits. Peguero (2.0 IP, BB, 4 K), Moran (1.0 IP, 2 K) and Armstrong (1.0 IP, 2 K) completed the shutout with the final four frames. Norfolk starter Kevin Smith (1.2 IP, H, R, ER, 6 BB, 2 K) suffered the loss.

The Bulls plated single tallies in the second, fourth and fifth frames, highlighted by an RBI single by RF Josh Lowe in the fourth, followed by Brosseau’s solo shot in the fifth. Durham would open the advantage to five with a pair of scores in the eighth before a three-run ninth that included Whitley’s two-run blast and 2B Taylor Walls’ run-scoring single put an exclamation mark on the day.

With the win, Durham has now won each of their last nine games overall, including 14 of their most recent 15 contests. The Bulls have also posted an overall record of 84-43 this year, their highest tally above the .500 mark in 2021. The victory was the team’s 14th shutout win of the season, including their third during the Triple-A Final Stretch.

Durham continues their season-concluding five-game road series in Norfolk on Friday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05pm. RHP Tobias Myers is anticipated to get the nod for the Bulls and be opposed by RHP Kyle Bradish.

The Bulls begin their 2022 campaign on the road in Nashville on Tuesday, April 5 before returning to the DBAP for a five-game series versus the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp starting on Tuesday, April 12. For more information on full-season and mini plan packages, please call 919.956.BULL.