Myers Blasts Bulls By Tribe 4-2

DURHAM, N.C. -- Tampa Bay Rays top prospect Wil Myers broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel the Durham Bulls (43-26) to a 4-2 victory over the Indianapolis Indians (46-24) on Saturday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

On a night when both teams failed to cash in on several offensive opportunities, it was a quick 1-2 punch in the bottom of the eighth inning that ultimately gave the Bulls the victory.

With the score tied at 2-2, CF Jason Bourgeois led off the bottom of the eighth with a line drive base hit to right, his second base knock of the night and fourth over his last two games. Then up to the plate stepped the International League's leading RBI producer in RF Wil Myers. The right handed slugger wasted little time as he deposited the first pitch he saw, from Tribe reliever Zack Thornton, over the left field wall for what proved to be the game-winning longball.

The homer for Myers moved him into a tie for the second most home runs in the IL this season, while the two RBI extended his League best total to 57.

Though the Indians mounted a comeback attempt in the top of the ninth, Bulls reliever Kirby Yates (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB), induced a key double play on his way to earning his fifth save of the season.

The contest began with a bang as Tribe SS Josh Harrison launched the first pitch of the game deep over the right center field wall for his second homer of the season. The blast was the second time this month that the Indians have led off a game with a longball, joining INF Chase d'Arnaud, who accomplished the feat on June 2 in Columbus.

Durham, however, quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the first as Bourgeois, Myers and 1B Vince Belnome roped back-to-back-to-back two out base hits with Belnome's base knock bringing home Bourgeois to even the score at 1-1.

Following the first, both starters settled in as Tribe LHP Kris Johnson (6.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO) did not allow a run over the next five frames, and Durham RHP Matt Buschmann (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 SO) kept the Indians off the board until the sixth.

In the sixth, Tribe CF Felix Pie drew a base-on-balls to lead off the frame, before swiping his team-leading 26th bag of the season later in the inning. From there, Pie came plateward when LF Andrew Lambo reached on a two-out Durham miscue that gave the Indians back the advantage at 2-1.

Durham, though, also took advantage of a miscue, scoring the game tying run in the bottom of the seventh on an Indians' error on a sacrifice bunt off the bat of 3B Cole Figueroa. Scoring on the play was 2B Mike Fontenot, who led off the frame with a double to center.

Indians reliever Zack Thornton (2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO) gave up the Myers home run that led the Bulls to victory and was pinned with the loss to fall to 2-1 on the season. On the other side, Durham reliever Adam Liberatore (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 SO) worked out of an 8th inning jam to earn the victory and improve to 3-1 on the year.

The Indians and Bulls will now wrap up their four-game series on Sunday night at 5:05 p.m. RHP James McDonald (1-1, 7.45 ERA) is expected to make another rehab start for Indianapolis, while RHP J.D. Martin (8-3, 2.92) is scheduled to get the call for Durham.

The game will be carried on WNDE 1260 AM, WNDE.com and via iheartradio, a mobile application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones with Howard Kellman and Will Flemming on the call. The pre-game show begins at 4:45 p.m.