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Bulls Stun Clippers With 7-Run Eighth; Win 9-7

August 15, 2012
Columbus, OH --- Will Rhymes' two-run blast in the eighth keyed a seven-run inning to catapult the Durham Bulls past the Columbus Clippers 9-7 at Huntington Park on Wednesday night.

Trailing 7-2 in the eighth, the Bulls (59-67) sent 12 hitters to the plate, with seven straight reaching with one out. Clippers starter David Huff exited after seven innings, and reliever Scott Barnes entered and fanned Tim Beckham to start the inning. Rich Thompson began the charge with a walk, followed by a Henry Wrigley double blasted against the left-centerfield wall to score Thompson. After a walk to Stephen Vogt, Chris Gimenez connected for his second home run of the game, slicing the deficit to 7-6. Brooks Conrad then walked before former Bulls reliever Dan Wheeler entered for the Clippers. Rhymes worked the count to 3-1 before assaulting a fastball over the right-centerfield wall to give the Bulls an 8-7 lead. Three singles followed in the frame, with a two-out liner to center by Thompson to score an insurance run, increasing the lead to 9-7.

From there, reliever Adam Liberatore and Dane DeLaRosa (S, 15) closed out the game, Durham's second straight win over the two-time defending Triple-A National Champion Clippers.

Columbus (64-61) took a 5-0 lead after three innings against Bulls starter Cesar Ramos, who was stretched out to his longest start of the season. Ramos worked six innings, permitting seven hits and six runs, fanning five.

Gimenez put the Bulls on the board in the fourth against Huff, hitting an opposite-field, two-run homer.

Josh Lueke (W, 2-3) notched the win despite allowing one run and two hits in his inning. The run was the first off of Lueke since July 12th.

The Bulls' first seven hits were extra base hits, with the final three hits of the eighth as their only singles of the game.

The two-homer game by Gimenez was his second in the last week, hitting two homers on August 9th at the DBAP against the Clippers.

The Bulls continue their series against the Clippers on Thursday night with Lance Pendleton (7-4, 4.49) opposing TJ McFarland (5-6, 5.06) at 7:05 PM ET.