Franco Slams Bulls Past Jumbo Shrimp 14-3

Durham shortstop Wander Franco crushed his first career grand slam, right fielder Nathan Lukes drove in three and second baseman Esteban Quiroz, third baseman Taylor Walls and center fielder Vidal Brujan all homered in the Bulls’ 14-3 win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in front of 3,780 on Saturday evening at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

After Lukes singled to right in the second to start the scoring, Franco lofted an opposite-field grand slam over the Blue Monster in left-center. It was the third longball of the year for the top overall prospect in baseball, in addition to his first at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. One inning later, Quiroz crushed a solo shot to right to make it 6-0.

Quiroz and Lukes would then each drive in a run in the fifth to extend the advantage to eight. A sixth-inning Jacksonville RBI groundout ended Durham’s shutout hopes, however Walls would leave the yard with his second big fly in as many games one frame later to make it 9-1 before driving in his second run in the seventh. Brujan would put the exclamation mark on the night with his three-run blast to left in the eighth, his fifth big fly of the season.

Durham reliever Phoenix Sanders (3.0 IP, H, R, ER, 2 K) earned the win to improve to 2-0. Jumbo Shrimp starter Alexander Guillen (2.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) suffered the defeat.

The two teams are scheduled to complete their six-game series on Sunday evening, with first pitch set for 5:05pm. RHP Joe Ryan (1-1, 3.60) is expected to toe the rubber for Durham, while Jacksonville is slated to send LHP Shawn Morimando (0-0, 4.70) to the hill. Tickets with socially-distanced seating for that game and all remaining Bulls home games in May are available at durhambulls.com.