Myers Delivers In 9th; Bulls Beat Charlotte 6-3
Fort Mill, SC --- Wil Myers drilled a two-run single with two outs to crack a 3-3 tie, sending the Durham Bulls past the Charlotte Knights 6-3 on Monday night.
The Bulls (8-4), who drew nine walks in the game, finally capitalized on Charlotte (4-8) wildness thanks to reliever Jhan Marinez in the ninth inning. Marinez, who earned the relief victory on Sunday, walked three in the ninth inning, including consecutive passes with two outs to fill the bases ahead of Myers. On a 2-2 pitch, Myers cracked a hard grounder toward the shortstop hole with the ball glancing off of Steve Tolleson's diving attempt to bring Hak-Ju Lee and Jason Bourgeois in to score. Leslie Anderson polished off the inning with an RBI-single to right-center.
Josh Lueke (S, 2) nailed down the game in the bottom of the ninth, striking out Jordan Danks as they tying run.
The Bulls established a 3-0 lead after two innings for starter Chris Archer, but the Knights continued their penchant of overcoming deficits. In the first, Mike Fontenot singled to left, Myers walked before Anderson singled to right to bring in the first run of the game. With the bases loaded, Brandon Guyer ripped a one-hopper to Tolleson, who converted the stop into a double play.
In the second inning, Vince Belnome reached on a dropped flyball to deep centerfield to start the inning. After a walk and sacrifice, Bourgeois grounded out to second base to bring home Belnome followed by an opposite-field single by Fontenot to push the Bulls lead to 3-0.
Archer carried the 3-0 advantage into the fifth inning when Brent Morel struck for a two-run double with one out. Archer would retire the next two hitters to end his outing. Archer pitched five frames, fanning six and allowing five hits.
The Knights knotted the score at 3 in the sixth against reliever Will Inman. Inman walked Seth Loman, followed by a double by Jared Mitchell. Tolleson delivered a sacrifice fly to right to tie the game, but Inman fanned Jim Gallagher with a runner at third to preserve the tie. Luis Durango grounded out to end the inning.
Kirby Yates (W, 1-1) registered his first Triple-A victory, pitching a perfect eighth inning.
With the win, the Bulls snapped a 14-game losing streak at Knights Stadium, dating back to August, 2011.
The four-game series at Knights Stadium wraps up Tuesday morning at 11:15 AM ET with Alex Colome (1-0, 0.00) starting against Charlotte's Andre Rienzo (0-1, 10.45).