Bulls Fall Again in One-Run Loss to PawSox
PAWTUCKET, RI - The Durham Bulls dropped their third straight game Wednesday night at McCoy Stadium, falling to the Pawtucket Red Sox 5-4.
Durham (53-65) jumped out to a fast start by scoring a pair of runs in the first. After Eury Perez and Taylor Motter singled, Curt Casali blooped a single to right field to score Perez for a 1-0 lead. Daniel Robertson then followed with a single to right that scored Motter for a two-run advantage.
The PawSox (62-55) countered against the rehabbing Alex Cobb in the bottom of the frame though, plating a pair of runs to tie the game. Marco Hernandez delivered an RBI triple for the team's first run, before Chris Marrero drove home Hernandez with a sac fly to center that tied the contest at two.
The home side tacked on to its lead an inning later, as Deven Marrero launched his first home run of the year to left field for a 3-2 lead. In the third Pawtucket extended its lead to 4-2 when Chris Marrero blasted his 21st dinger of the year to left.
After the Red Sox scored again in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Brennan Boesch, Durham got a run back in the seventh on an RBI single by Dayron Varona. The Bulls pulled within a run in the ninth on a solo homer by JP Arencibia, but the next three batters went down swinging to close the contest.
Brian Johnson (5-4) went 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits to pick up the win, while Noe Ramirez earned his fifth save of the year despite allowing Arencibia's dinger in the ninth. Cobb (0-1) took the loss in his fifth rehab start of 2016, surrendering four runs on eight hits across three innings.
Arencibia finished the evening 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Casali chipped in two hits and an RBI.
The series concludes Thursday at 12:05 p.m., as the Bulls send RHP Jake Faria (3-3, 4.74) to the mound against Pawtucket LHP Roenis Elias (8-4, 3.72).