Stripers Dig Early Hole in Durham, Lose 8-3 in Finale

DURHAM, North Carolina – The Gwinnett Stripers (17-16, 55-52) fell behind 8-0 early and couldn’t recover in an 8-3 loss to the Durham Bulls (22-10, 50-57) on Sunday evening at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Durham won the series 4-3.

Decisive Plays: Durham chased starter Garrett Baumann (L, 1-3) after just one inning of work, scoring six runs to go up 6-0. A two-run single by Tatem Levins and three-run home run by Logan Davidson (10) highlighted the inning. In the third, Cedric De Grandpre allowed a two-run homer to Oliver Dunn (17), making it 8-0 Bulls. Gwinnett got on the board in the fourth with an RBI single from Brewer Hicklen. An inning later, Luke Williams lifted a two-run homer (6) over the blue monster in left-center to cut the deficit to 8-3.

Key Contributors: Williams (2-for-4, double, homer, 2 RBIs) had two of Gwinnett’s five hits. De Grandpre settled things down with 5.0 innings (3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) in his first career Triple-A relief outing. Davidson (1-for-4, homer, 3 RBIs), Dunn (1-for-3, homer, 2 RBIs), and Levins (1-for-3, 2 RBIs) all had multi-RBI games for Durham.

Noteworthy: Sean Murphy continued his rehab assignment for the Atlanta Braves, starting at DH and going 0-for-2 with a walk. Three of Williams’ six homers this season have come against Durham, including two at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Since returning from Atlanta, Hicklen is batting .389 (7-for-18, 2 doubles, 1 homer, 6 runs, 3 RBIs, 1.143 OPS) in five games.

Next Game (Tuesday, August 4): Gwinnett Stripers vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, 6:35 p.m. ET at Gwinnett Field. It’s 5-4-3 Tuesday, presented by Sahlen’s Hot Dogs. Radio Broadcast: 6:20 p.m. on MyCountry993.com. Live Video Stream: Bally Sports Live.