Bulls Drop Second Straight to Knights, 9-3

DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls dropped their second straight game to the Charlotte Knights Saturday night at the DBAP, losing 9-3 while surrendering five unearned runs.

Durham scored in its half of the first inning, when Ryan Brett lined a solo homer over the Blue Monster for a 1-0 lead. The Knights (71-64) responded in the top of the third though, scoring four runs, three of which were unearned. After an error, a single and a catcher's interference loaded the bases, Leury Garcia lined a bases-clearing triple down the rightfield line. Jason Coats then grounded out, scoring Garcia for a 4-1 score.

In the fifth frame the visitors extended their lead to 6-1 when Dayan Viciedo delivered a two-run, two-out single to rightfield. In the sixth Charlotte captured a six-run lead on Micah Johnson's two-out double, which scored Chris Jacobs.

The Bulls (67-68) plated a run in the eighth inning on a Taylor Motter double to cut the deficit to 7-2, but the Knights scored a pair in the final inning when Viciedo drove home a pair with a single. Corey Brown led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run to make it a 9-3 ballgame, but that was as close as Durham would get.

Righty Scott Carroll (7-4) earned the win for the Knights, tossing six innings of one-run ball. Southpaw Everett Teaford (5-9) took the loss, allowing six runs (three earned) on five hits over five innings.

The four-game set concludes Sunday, when the Bulls send LHP Blake Snell (4-2, 1.57) to the mound against LHP Erik Johnson (11-8, 2.37) for the Knights. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. from the DBAP.