Seventh Inning Explosion Propels Bulls Over Columbus

Columbus, OH --- A seven-run seventh inning sparked the Durham Bulls past the Columbus Clippers 12-3 on Friday night at Huntington Park.
Having just escaped a major threat by the Clippers (3-5) in the last of the sixth, Durham (4-4) cobbled together a sustained, 10-batter frame to even the series one game apiece. With two outs and nobody aboard, Kean Wong singled to ignite the inning. After a pitching change, Willly Adames reached on an infield single lined off the glove of shortstop Yu Chang. Jake Bauers followed with a looping double over the head of first baseman Nellie Rodríguez to score Wong and Adames to push the lead to 7-3. After a walk, Jeremy Hazelbaker cracked a three-run homer to right. Two batters later, Joe McCarthy drilled a two run homer onto the roof in right field with Justin Williams aboard to cap the Bulls' second largest inning of the season.
José Mujica (W, 1-1) matched a career-high by striking out eight over five innings to notch the win.  
Durham took a 1-0 lead in the first on a single by Jake Bauers to bring home Wong, who led the game off withthe first of his three hits. Columbus tied the game in the first, then went ahead on a single by Greg Allen in the second, 2-1.
The Bulls went ahead in the third with a pair of runs against Stephen Fife (L, 0-1). Wong doubled to right to score Micah Johnson, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Adames to left that was dropped by Brandon Barnes.
With the Bulls leading 5-2 in the sixth, Jaime Schultz relieved Mujica and saw the first four batters reach, including a bases loaded walk to Chang to bring home a run. Schultz rebounded by striking out Rodriguez and Adam Rosales with the bases loaded. Hunter Wood relieved to induce Allen into a grounder to first to end the inning.
Hazelbaker's homer came in his first game in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Hazelbaker was acquired in a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier in the week. McCarthy's homer was his first career Triple-A home run.
The Bulls were one-hit in the opener on Thursday, but saw the first three batters of Friday's game reach on hits.
Weather permitting, the Bulls continue their series with the Clippers on Saturday night at 6:35 PM ET. Vidal Nuño III (0-0, 1.93) will oppose former Durham pitcher Adam Wilk (1-0, 0.00).