Franco’s 3 RBI’s Still Not Enough in Bulls 6-5 Loss

DURHAM NC – Wander Franco and the Durham Bulls (17-8) fell short to the Norfolk Tides (9-15) 6-5 on Tuesday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Franco had himself a game recording four hits and three RBI’s, giving him 21 on the season. The four hits brought his batting average to .299 for the year. Despite the great performance, the Tides lineup was able to pile up six runs off of 13 hits against Bulls pitching to secure the victory in game one in the first series of June.

As the Bulls fell behind early, their lineup could not pull off another come-from-behind win which was a theme in May. They left runners on base in the bottom of the ninth versus 35-year-old veteran Fernando Abad after adding two more runs to come up one short from tying it.

The offense finished the contest tallying fives runs off nine hits, with the first two coming in the bottom half of the third. Franco’s first RBI came off a single against Tides starter Dean Kremer and an error on the same play by Kremer cut the deficit to 4-2. He then added a double in the seventh and scored the club’s third run, from another double hit by Ryan Boldt. Franco finished his impressive showing, delivering his third single that scored two runners with two outs in the ninth to finalize the score at 6-5.

Luis Patino (0-1) logged in his first-ever start in Durham. The 21-year-old righty was the main piece that the Rays received from the San Diego Padres in the Blake Snell deal during the off-season. Patino started the 2021 season in the MLB, supporting a 1-1 record with a 3.60 ERA in five appearances and three starts. He was sent down to Durham to be stretched out as a legitimate starter. His longest start in 15 frames with the Rays was just four innings, so the move allows Patino to showcase his full-on potential as a starter.

The promising prospect still has some adjustments to make. The Tides jumped all over him in the second inning, putting up four runs. The scoring parade began with an RBI double and a single by Ryan Ripken and Mason McCoy. The lead was then later doubled credited to a two-run double by Malquin Canelo. Patino did not make it out of the inning, finishing his night tossing 1 1/3 innings, surrendering five hits, four earned runs, one walk, and struck out one.

The encouraging sign was that he did show solid command throwing 31 strikes in 48 pitches, but the location was not there, and the Tides were able to knock him around a bit. Each start is a learning curve, and it is clear that Patino has all the tools to be a successful starter in the MLB, but it will take some time.

Dean Kremer also made his first minor league start of 2021 for the Tides. In the first two months of the season, he logged in nine starts with the Baltimore Orioles. Kremer could not find any rhythm in the bigs going winless with a 0-5 record and a 6.87 ERA in 38 innings pitched. He did show promise for the Tides on Tuesday night, lasting four innings with one earned run while racking up seven strikeouts versus an extremely efficient Bulls lineup.

Sean Poppen, Drew Rasmussen, Louis Head, and Tyler Zombro all made appearances out of the bullpen for the Bulls. They combined for 7 2/3 innings, giving up eight hits, two runs, and punched out 11. They were able to keep the Bulls in the game and did it without issuing a single free pass.

The Bulls will attempt to bounce back from the 6-5 defeat and will meet the Tides Wednesday, June 2nd, in game two of the six-game series. Their 17-8 record is still good enough to put them near the top of the division (second place), but they will need to break out of this two-game losing skid if they want to keep it that way.