Durham Walks-Off Over Gwinnett in 11 Innings
DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls won their third straight game Monday evening, defeating the Gwinnett Braves 6-5 on a walk-off single by Carlos Corporan in the 11th inning.
Trailing 5-4 entering the bottom of the 11th, Nick Franklin led off with a walk then stole second base. After a Kyle Roller single put runners on the corners, Patrick Leonard walked to load the bases. A fielder's choice tied the game and put runners on first and third, before Corporan grounded a ball through the right side to give the Bulls their third straight victory.
Durham led 4-0 after just three innings, scoring a run in the first, two in the second and one in the third. The Bulls (4-1) struck first on Taylor Motter's RBI groundout. In the second frame Mikie Mahtook singled to score a pair, and in the third Richie Shaffer doubled to score Motter for a four-run advantage.
Gwinnett (3-2) would come back though, plating a run in the fourth and a pair in the fifth. In the sixth frame the G-Braves' Matt Tuiasosopo unloaded a solo homer over the Blue Monster, evening the contest at four.
That score held until the top of the 11th, when Tuiasosopo delivered his second solo homer of the game to left field to put the visitors in front 5-4. That set the stage for a Bulls' comeback in the bottom of the frame.
Righty Tyler Sturdevant (1-0) picked up the victory, despite allowing one run on two hits in two innings of relief. David Peterson (0-1) suffered the loss for Gwinnett, surrendering the game's final two runs in the bottom of the 11th. The G-Braves managed to load the bases in the eighth, ninth and 10th frames, but the Durham bullpen kept them scoreless in each frame.
Shaffer and Mahtook paced Durham's offense, each tallying two hits.
Durham and Gwinnett square off in the second game of a three-game set Tuesday at the DBAP at 7:05 p.m. LHP Blake Snell (1-0, 3.60) takes the hill for the Bulls opposite RHP John Gant (NR) for the Braves.