Ryan Boldt Has a Big Night at the Plate in Bulls Victory
DURHAM NC – Ryan Boldt continued to swing a hot stick in another Durham Bulls (22-9) 10-5 win over the Charlotte Knights (11-20) on Wednesday evening at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Bulls have now won seven of their first eight meetings against Charlotte and remain tied with the Nashville Sound for first place.
Boldt came into the night hitting .280 with three home runs, 20 RBI, nine runs, and one stolen base in 88 at-bats. Boldt has been playing DH and center field and has hit out of the cleanup spot against righties and seventh versus lefties. The 26-year-old has been enjoying his best start in terms of power numbers, as he has just 16 career home runs in the minors since being drafted in 2016. He is typically not known for his power and more so for his contact. His impressive start has upped his career numbers to a .275 average in 939 at-bats.
On Wednesday, he had another well-rounded game at the dish going 2 for 4 with a single, triple, stolen base, and two RBI. He had Knights starter Reynaldo Lopez’s (0-3) number and opened up the scoring connecting on an RBI base knock scoring Vidal Brujan in the 1st inning. Lopez struggled mightily, lasting four innings surrendering six hits, seven earned runs, four walks, and struck out three. Boldt performed a double steal in the same frame with Josh Lowe swiping his second bag of the season. The throw to second base scored Lowe to give the Bulls a 2-0 advantage through one.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Boldt delivered a one-run triple off a line drive to centerfield, sending Josh Lowe to score to give the Bulls a 3-0 lead. It was Boldt’s first triple of the season. The rest of the offense started to get hot in the 4th. Brett Sullivan and Brujan each logged in RBI. Wander Franco, who also had two hits, put the icing on the cake, launching a two-run dinger for his sixth home run of the season to go up 7-2 after four. The Bulls tagged along three additional runs to finish the night, putting up 10 on the scoreboard.
Dietrich Enns was efficient for the Bulls on the bump going 4 2/3 strong innings allowing two earned runs, and struck out three. In over 20 innings pitched, Enns has impressively not issued a single walk, and the outing brought his ERA to 2.66. Brent Honeywell Jr., Chazz Roe, and Drew Rasmussen (2-0) finished it off, coming out of the bullpen.
Ryan Boldt and the Bulls now look ahead to game three, which will take place Thursday, June 10th, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.