PawSox Slug Past Bulls 15-10
The Bulls (6-10) rallied from a three-run deficit to take a 7-6 lead over the Red Sox (11-5) in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Shawn O'Malley. Durham extended the lead with two more runs in the fifth when Brandon Guyer tripled home Will Rhymes, then scored on a grounder by Leslie Anderson.
However, the Bulls bullpen surrendered nine runs over four innings as Pawtucket won its fifth straight game and the Bulls fell to 1-8 on its current 14-game road trip.
Guyer went 5-6 to lead the Bulls, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Guyer lifted his batting average from .221 to .283. Guyer also hit Durham's first home run in 356 at-bats, dating back to April 9th, a two-run shot to give Durham a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Mauro Gomez hit a game-tying homer in the first against starter Matt Torra, then hit a solo shot in the fifth against Romulo Sanchez. Tony Thomas blasted a three-run homer in the second. But the game turned in the bottom of the seventh, when Hassen hit a 2-0 pitch from Josh Lueke with the bases loaded over the left field wall to put Pawtucket ahead 12-9. Will Middlebrooks hit the fifth and final Red Sox homer in the game in the eighth against Marquis Fleming. In total, the Red Sox accounted for 13 runs on home runs Friday night.
The 10-run outburst by the Bulls was their second highest of the season, knocking out 13 hits against the second-best pitching staff in the International League. Juan Miranda went 2-3 with two walks. Torra worked four innings, permitting seven hits and six runs. Lueke (L, 0-1) suffered the loss allowing four runs in the seventh inning. The series continues on Saturday with Alex Torres (1-1, 6.39) against Ross Ohlendorf (2-0, 1.50) at 1:05 PM ET.