Durham Drops Fourth Straight in 6-5 Loss

PAWTUCKET, RI - The Pawtucket Red Sox scored four times in the bottom of the eighth inning to come back and defeat the Durham Bulls 6-5 Thursday afternoon at McCoy Stadium.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth, the PawSox (63-55) tied the contest on a two-out, two-run homer by Marco Hernandez. After Henry Ramos worked a walk, Chris Marrero blasted a go-ahead home run to left that put the home side in front 6-4.

The Bulls (53-66) did not go quietly in the ninth however, loading the bases with two outs. Curt Casali worked a bases-loaded free pass to extend the game and cut the deficit to 6-5, but Johnny Field struck out with the bases loaded to end the contest, as the PawSox completed the sweep of the three-game set.

Chandler Shepherd earned the win despite allowing three runs on five hits in two innings of work, while Heath Hembree earned his seventh save in seven tries despite allowing a run in the ninth. Ryne Stanek (1-2) took the loss for Durham, surrendering a pair of two-run home runs in 1 2/3 innings of work.

Pawtucket scored the game's first two runs, scoring once in the second and once in the third. Durham plated its first run of the game on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth, before erupting for three runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Jake Hager and a two-run dinger by Taylor Motter.

Motter led the Bulls offensively with a 3-for-4 performance, homering and tallying a pair of doubles, while Eury Perez finished with two hits and two runs scored.

The Bulls return home for a three-game homestand beginning Friday against the Charlotte Knights. LHP Justin Marks (5-10, 3.68) takes the hill for Durham against LHP David Holmberg (0-2, 4.26) for Charlotte. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.