Anderson, Bourgeois Power Bulls to Sweep
The Durham Bulls hammered the Gwinnett Braves 10-6 on Wednesday afternoon, tallying double-digit runs for the second game in a row and completing a three-game sweep. Leslie Anderson led Durham's 14-hit attack with two home runs and four driven in, while Jason Bourgeois added 4 RBI of his own. With the victory, Durham remains undefeated at home and now has a 2.0 game lead over the G-Braves for first place in the International League South Division.
Gwinnett tallied a run in the first two innings, but Durham quickly responded with a bizarre second inning that saw a Braves' catcher interference alongside the Bulls bringing seven hitters to the plate without recording a hit. Bourgeois grabbed the RBI after drawing a walk with the bases loaded against Gwinnett starter Sean Gilmartin. The speedy outfielder finished his day 3-for-3 with three doubles, four RBI, two walks and a run scored.
The Bulls grabbed their first lead of the midweek matinee when Anderson tattooed his first of two home runs on the day, a two-run blast to right field in the third frame. It was the first Durham home run of the season hit by someone other than Brandon Guyer.
In the fourth, Gwinnett posted a two-spot on the scoreboard after SS Scott Kazmar roped his second RBI double of the afternoon. The Bulls tried to answer back in their half of the inning but Hak-Ju Lee was called out after he made contact with third base coach Dan DeMent following a Bourgeois double. Lee was rounding third base and never saw the coach, so he put on the brakes and accidently grabbed DeMent's arm to slow his momentum. Durham baserunners were thrown out three times on the basepath Wednesday.
Gwinnett's one-run lead lasted until the fifth when Anderson stepped to the plate once again. The Cuban first baseman blasted another two-run rocket, this time to left centerfield, scoring Wil Myers and giving Durham a 5-4 lead. Myers extended his team-high hit streak to six games on the season with one of his two singles on the day.
RHP Chris Archer (W, 2-0) left the game after 5.0 innings of work. The Durham workhorse surrendered four runs on seven hits while he struck out seven and walked just one en route to win. Jim Paduch relieved Archer and worked 2.2 innings of his own, yielding just one run on five hits. Kirby Yates worked 1.1 innings, as he struck out one.
The Bulls added some insurance in the sixth and then unlocked the floodgates in the seventh when Bourgeois delivered with a base-clearing double to boost the Durham lead to 10-4 after seven innings.
Ernesto Mejia destroyed the longest ball at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, or out of the DBAP, this season as his eighth-inning solo home run landed on the third floor of the Diamond View II building directly behind the ballpark in left field.
Five Durham hitters registered a multiple-hit games, including Anderson and Bourgeois with three hits each.
Durham welcomes the IL South Division rival Norfolk Tides to town for two games beginning on Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch from the DBAP. Right-hander Alex Colome (0-0, 0.00) will take the mound for the Bulls against Tides righty Jair Jurrjens (0-0, 0.00) in a rematch of last Saturday's 11-inning marathon. The two pitchers combined to work 13.0 scoreless innings as each allowed just one hit.