Los Toros Stymied by Tides in Shutout Loss

DURHAM, NC - An early deficit was too much too overcome for a second consecutive night as the Durham Bulls fell 5-0 to the Norfolk Tides in front of 10,017 fans on Hispanic Heritage Night Saturday at the DBAP.
Norfolk opened the scoring in the visitor's half of the second with a leadoff home run by Renato Núñez, his fourth homer of the year.
In the fourth inning, Drew Dosch launched a solo homer for his fifth of the season. Nunez drove in his second run of the game with a single in the fifth inning to score Cedric Mullins to extend the Bulls' deficit to 3-0.
The Tides (46-40) added two runs on two hits in the seventh inning on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly by Dosch giving the visitor's a 5-0 lead.
Los Toros de Durham left runners on in the fourth through seventh innings, stranding five total and going 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
Zach Lee (L, 2-2) was saddled with his second loss in his fourth start as a Bull. He allowed three runs on eight hits over 6.0 innings, with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Bulls (50-37) managed just five hits and were held scoreless for the second consecutive game.
Tides' starter John Means (W, 4-1) held the home team scoreless over 7.0 innings, with nine strikeouts to earn his fourth win in 10 starts and his third consecutive winning decision. Tim Melville and Joely Rodríguez out of the bullpen combined to hold the Bulls scoreless over the final two innings, with 11 total strikeouts.
The Bulls have dropped two in a row for the first time since June 16-17 and look to salvage the third game of this three-game series against the Tides at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday. Yonny Chirinos (0-2, 7.23) is scheduled to start against David Hess (2-0, 2.12) for the final game before the All-Star break.