Braves Silence Bulls, 5-0
Flande (W, 1-0) yielded the three hits, with Dusty Hughes and Cody Gearrin combined for four no-hit innings as the Braves (7-3) won their sixth straight game to take a two-game lead in the South over the Bulls (5-5).
Matt Torra (L, 1-1) worked 5 2/3 innings for the Bulls, allowing three two-out runs in the first inning. Ernesto Mejia doubled home Drew Sutton, then Joey Terdoslavich connected for a two-run homer into the first row of the right field stands. Jordan Parraz took Torra out in the fourth, with the Braves capping the scoring in the sixth on an RBI-double from catcher Jose Yepez.
The Bulls meanwhile, were shutout for the third time in 10 games, and were no-hit over the final 5 1/3 innings of the game. Durham entered the game as the top hitting team in the International League with an average of .275.
Torra permitted 11 hits, two home runs and fanned two. Brandon Gomes worked 1 1/3 hitless innings followed by Adam Libertore's AAA debut, which resulted in a scoreless eighth inning.
Jeff Salazar had two of the three hits for the Bulls, with Leslie Anderson going 1-4 as the Bulls lost their third straight in the series.
Looking to avoid the four-game sweep, Durham starts Alex Cobb (0-1, 2.25) on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 PM ET against Todd Redmond (1-0, 1.80).