Seo shuts down Tribe; Bulls roll to 3-0 victory

DURHAM, N.C. -- Right-hander Jae Seo scattered just five hits over 7.2 scoreless innings, while first baseman Wes Bankston and second baseman Elliot Johnson hammered back-to-back homers in the sixth to lift Durham over Indianapolis, 3-0, in front of 8,632 Friday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The Bulls improve to 70-56 on the season and 35-28 at home, while the Indians fall to 64-61 overall and 29-34 on the road. Thursday will be the Tribe's 271st consecutive day with a record of .500 or better.

Seo (7.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO) improved to 7-3 with the win, while Durham RHP Jay Witasick (1.1 IP, 1 SO) picked up his first Triple-A save of the season. Seo and Witasick retired 12 consecutive batters over the final four innings to secure the victory.

Durham cracked the scoreboard with one run in the fourth when 3B Evan Longoria walked and raced plateward on C Raul Casanova's (1-for-4, 1 RBI) single to right.

The Bulls added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth when Bankston (1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI) hammered his 12th dinger of the season to center and Johnson (1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) followed with his 10th rountripper to right.

SS Don Kelly (2-for-4), DH Luis Ordaz (2-for-3) and CF Andrew McCutchen (1-for-3) were the only Indianapolis batters to collect base knocks in the affair.

Indians RHP John Van Benschoten (5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO) suffered the loss, falling to 9-5.

Indianapolis travels to Charlotte for a two-game set on Saturday and Sunday. Indians LHP Michael Tejera and Knights RHP Charlie Haeger are the probable pitchers for the series opener at 7:15 p.m.

The contest will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley.The pre-game show begins at 6:55 p.m.