Bulls Split Double-Header Against Tides

Norfolk, VA --- The Durham Bulls split a Sunday doubleheader against Norfolk to cap a successful season-opening series at Harbor Park, winning the opener 3-2 before falling 4-3 in the nightcap.

In the opener, the Bulls never trailed, but after the Tides evened the game twice, Chris Gimenez stroked an opposite-field single in the fifth inning to score Jason Bourgeois to put the Bulls ahead 3-2.

Jim Paduch (W, 1-0) worked efficiently over 3 1/3 scoreless innings, permitting only two hits to notch the victory.  Mike Montgomery pitched 3 2/3 frames in his organizational debut, allowing five hits and three walks, but only two runs.  Montgomery made 82 pitches in his debut.

Bourgeois opened the game with a single, stole the first of two bases in the game, then scored on a grounder by Wil Myers.

After a Trayvon Robinson homer tied the game in the bottom of the first, the Bulls nosed ahead in the third.  Gimenez doubled to leadoff the inning, then scored on a deep sacrifice fly by Tim Beckham. 

In the nightcap, the Bulls struck first when Brandon Guyer drilled a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall from 152-game big-league winner Freddy Garcia for a 1-0 lead.  However, similar to the opener, the Tides immediately caught the Bulls with a Russ Canzler RBI-single to bring home Chris Dickerson to even the score 1-1.

Norfolk took its first lead of the day in the second inning of game two on a two-out triple to deep right-center by Chris Dickerson, scoring Luis Exposito to give the Tides a 2-1 edge.

The Bulls took their first lead of the nightcap in the fifth against Garcia thanks to a sac fly by Bourgeois to score Hak-Ju Lee, who reached on a bunt single.  With the game tied 2-2 and two outs, Guyer drilled a double against the left-centerfield wall, then scored on a single by Leslie Anderson for a 3-2 lead.

Norfolk evened the game in the last of the fifth on a two-out bloop single by Russ Canzler, which deflected off of the glove of a diving Brandon Guyer in right field to make it 3-3.

However, the Tides would win the game in the last of the seventh against Kirby Yates (L, 0-1) after Trayvon Robinson doubled with one out, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a single to left by Danny Valencia.

The Bulls open their home slate of the 2013 season on Monday night with Jake Odorizzi making his Rays organizational debut against the Gwinnett Braves at the DBAP at 6:05 PM ET