Bulls Flirt With No-Hitter, Then Fall Late To Indy, 6-5

Indianapolis, IN --- After carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning, the Durham Bulls were stunned by a six-run frame as Indianapolis raged past the Bulls 6-5 at Victory Field on Friday night.

Leslie Anderson and Shelley Duncan homered earlier in the game to give the Bulls a 4-0 advantage, and the Bulls appeared to be cruising to the first road team to win a series at Indianapolis this season. However, the Indians capitalized against four Bulls pitchers in the eighth to split the series instead.

Mike Montgomery faced the minimum 18 hitters through six and no-hit the Indians for seven innings, but after a leadoff walk in the eighth and 99 total pitches, Montgomery handed a 4-0 lead to the pen. Juan Sandoval entered, got ahead on Tony Sanchez with a fastball, but then Sanchez drove a double against the padding of the centerfield wall to break up the no-hitter and draw the Indians to 4-1. Brett Carroll then singled up the middle to make it a 4-2 game. Sandoval recorded a pair of outs with Carroll taking third before hitting John McDonald. Jeff Beliveau entered and walked lefty hitting Alex Presley to fill the bases. Kirby Yates then came in, uncorked a wild pitch to score Carroll to make it 4-3. Then Josh Harrison grounded to Mike Fontenot at shortstop, who fumbled the ball, picked it up and threw late to first for an error on which the tying and go-ahead runs scored. The Indians tacked on an insurance run to finish a six run inning.

In the Bulls ninth, Juan Apodaca doubled with one out, then scored on an error allowing Jason Bourgeois to reach second as the Bulls made it a 6-5 game. However, Brandon Guyer lined to center and Vince Belnome grounded out to end the game.

Anderson's eighth homer was the first by either team in the series, occurring in the second inning. Duncan's two-run shot came in the sixth with a man on to cap a three-run inning.

Apodaca had three of the Bulls 10 hits.

The Bulls roadtrip continues Saturday night from Louisville Slugger Field against the Louisville Bats at 6:05 PM ET with Matt Buschmann making the start for the Bulls.