Colome outduels Wright in Bulls win

Durham's Alex Colome and Pawtucket's Steven Wright were evenly matched entering Game 3 of their teams' four-game set Thursday night.

Both were making their second International League start of the year and both were looking to make the kind of impression that could get them back to the Majors. By the end of the contest, there wasn't a whole lot to separate the two right-handers either.

The pair kept pace with each other pitch for pitch, but it was Colome and the Bulls who proved to have just a little extra in the tank as Durham eked out a 2-0 victory.

No. 5 Rays prospect Colome gave up four hits while striking out seven over eight innings in his second Triple-A outing of the year. Wright, for his part, also scattered four hits and fanned seven batters over seven scoreless innings. But while the Red Sox turned to the 'pen in the eighth, the Bulls stuck with their ace and scratched out the only runs of the game off Pawtucket's relief corps.

Colome (1-0) worked around singles in the first and second and veteran Wright helped his own cause by starting a 1-2-3 double play to erase a pair of hits and a walk in the third.

Wright then stranded runners in the fifth and sixth, and Colome, who served a 50-game suspension at the start of the season after testing positive for a banned substance, responded by rolling a double-play ball in the sixth and leaving a runner on base in the seventh.

California native Wright, 29, left a pair of runners in scoring position in the seventh, but the Bulls finally broke the deadlock in the next frame. Reliever Dalier Hinojosa (0-1) allowed a pair of runs on two hits, two walks, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.

Signed by the Rays as a non-drafted free agent in 2007, Colome is back with the Bulls for a third season after seeing time in Durham in 2012 (three starts) and 2013 (14 starts). He appeared in three Florida State League contests with Charlotte earlier this season and also made a relief appearance with the Rays, his fourth Major League game.

In his Triple-A season debut Saturday, the 6-foot-2 native of the Dominican Republic struck out nine batters over 5 2/3 three-hit frames. The 25-year-old has now worked 22 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the Minors between Durham and Charlotte.