Jacksonville Edges Durham 6-4

Walls wallops first Triple-A homer in front of 3,057

Bulls SS Taylor Walls crushed his first Triple-A home run in Friday's 6-4 defeat to Jacksonville in front of 3,057 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. (Brian Fleming)

May 14, 2021

Bulls shortstop Taylor Walls walloped his first Triple-A home run, however Jumbo Shrimp second baseman Jazz Chisholm, right fielder Jesus Sanchez and Brian Navaretto all left the yard as Jacksonville edged Durham 6-4 on Friday evening in front of a sellout crowd of 3,057 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Durham

Bulls shortstop Taylor Walls walloped his first Triple-A home run, however Jumbo Shrimp second baseman Jazz Chisholm, right fielder Jesus Sanchez and Brian Navaretto all left the yard as Jacksonville edged Durham 6-4 on Friday evening in front of a sellout crowd of 3,057 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Durham struck first in the opening frame when 3B Wander Franco scored on a Jumbo Shrimp error, though Chisholm left the yard in the third to even the contest at 1-1. 2B Vidal Brujan would then come across on a second Jacksonville fielding miscue in the last of the third prior to Sanchez’s game-tying solo shot in the fourth.

Walls would mash a solo homer of his own in the fifth to give Durham a brief 3-2 advantage, yet Jacksonville answered with a three-spot in the sixth to grab a 5-3 lead. LF Brett Sullivan’s RBI single in the sixth made it a one-run game, however the Bulls were not able to close the gap any further.

Jacksonville reliever Josh A. Smith (3.2 IP, 4 H, R, ER, BB, 4 K) earned the win and Steven Okert (1.2 IP, 2 K) notched his third save. Bulls righty Tyler Zombro (2.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER) suffered the defeat.

The two teams are set to face off again on Saturday evening, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35pm at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. RHP Chris Ellis (0-0, 9.31) is anticipated to start for the Bulls, while LHP Braxton Garrett (1-0, 6.23) is slated to take the hill for the Jumbo Shrimp. Tickets with socially-distanced seating for that game and all Bulls home games in May are available at durhambulls.com.