Bulls Rally Falls Short In 9th; Fall 3-1

Lawrenceville, GA --- A furious ninth inning rally came up just short for Durham, as the Gwinnett Braves dodged the Bulls 3-1 on a soggy Saturday night at Coolray Field.

Entering the ninth down 3-0, the Bulls (55-45) scored a run on a Jayson Nix triple, then a pair of walks filled the bases with two outs as the Braves (45-56) yanked their closer Juan Jaime in the process. Pedro Beato (S, 3) induced a popfly to shortstop from Mayo Acosta to end the game.

Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo, who tied Bill Evers for the most wins in Durham history with 613, remains tied with the International Leauge Hall of Famer.

Alex Colome (L, 4-3) allowed his only run of a six-inning start in the third when Phil Gosselin singled up the middle to score Ozzie Martinez with two outs. Colome, who endured his first career start without a strikeout in his last outing against Norfolk 11 days ago, whiffed eight.

The Braves added to insurance runs in the eighths against Jeff Beliveau when Sean Kazmar doubled home two runs with two outs to boost the lead to 3-0.

Gus Schlosser (W, 6-5) pitched seven scoreless innings, fanning seven. The Bulls hit into two early double plays against Schlosser and stranded eight runners in the game.

Nix went 4-4 for the Bulls, whose five-game winning streak was halted. Second place Gwinnett moved back to within 10 1/2 of the Bulls in the South.

The series concludes Sunday afternoon at 2:05 PM ET with Mike Montgomery (9-1, 3.21) starting against Daniel Rodriguez (4-11, 5.24).