Yarbrough, Bulls blank Norfolk in series finale

Old Dominion product Ryan Yarbrough fired 7.2 shutout innings to help pitch the Durham Bulls to a 1-0 win over the Tides Sunday afternoon at Harbor Park.

Yarbrough (12-5) limited the Tides to just three singles in his outing as he helped the Bulls salvage the finale of the three-game set. The 25-year-old left-hander, drafted in the 4^th round of the 2014 draft after playing collegiately for the Monarchs, struck out six without walking a batter and needed just 86 pitches to navigate his outing. Yarbrough has dominated Norfolk this season, going 4-0 with a 1.10 ERA (5 ER, 41.0 IP) in six starts, including 21.2 consecutive scoreless innings at Harbor Park.
Yarbrough gave way to Diego Castillo, who yielded a hit over 1.1 innings to register his second save of the season.
The Bulls scored the lone run of the contest in the sixth inning, when Pat Leonard plated Willy Adames with a two-out double to left-center field off of Chris Lee (4-6). Leonard finished with three of Durham's eight hits in the contest.
In his third appearance since being activated off of Baltimore's disabled list, Norfolk starter Mike Wright turned in a strong start but did not factor in the decision. Wright, who was on the Orioles' disabled list with right shoulder bursitis from June 16^th to July 22^nd, scattered three hits over 4.2 shutout innings, walking one and striking out five while throwing 51 of his 73 pitches for strikes. The East Carolina product continued his stellar track record against Durham, as he lowered his career ERA against the Bulls to 0.59 (5 ER, 76.1 IP) in 11 starts.
Despite the loss, Norfolk captured two of three games in the series, the fifth consecutive series in which the Tides have either won or split.
The Tides will hit the road on Monday as they open a three-game set in Allentown, PA against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Gabriel Ynoa (4-8, 6.16) gets the start for Norfolk and will be opposed by right-hander Jake Thompson (4-11, 5.36), with first pitch set for 7:05 pm.
Notes: Through 22 games against each other this season, Norfolk and Durham have each scored 75 runs, with the Bulls leading the series 12-10…Each game of the three-game set was decided by one run, giving Norfolk 28 one-run contests in 57 home games…Norfolk did not have an at-bat with a runner in scoring position...The Tides have played 114 games this season, and Monday's game against Lehigh Valley will be their first game against the IronPigs this season.
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