Bulls Take Game 1 in Jacksonville 4-1

JACKSONVILLE FL – The Durham Bulls (29-13) secured their fourth straight victory by defeating the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (23-18) 4-1 in game one of their six-game series on Tuesday night. Despite losing their best player in Wander Franco to the MLB, who homered in his debut versus the Boston Red Sox. The Bulls did not miss a beat and played a complete game to win their 29th contest of the season. 

Shane Baz (W, 1-0) made his second career Triple-A start and was dominant once again. The 22-year-old delivered 5 innings of one-run ball and struck out five Jumbo Shrimp along the way. The victory gave him his first as a Bull and brought his ERA down to a 2.00 mark. An RBI single off the bat of Brian Miller in the 2nd was the only trouble Baz got himself into. He had a nice rhythm going throwing 46 strikes in 74 total pitches and continued to look promising moving forward. Phoenix Sanders, Ryan Sherriff, Louis Head, and Brent Honeywell Jr. followed the right-hander out of the bullpen and took care of business.

Jordan Holloway (L, 1-3) received the ball for the Jumbo Shrimp, and the Bulls offense gave him his fair share of trouble. Holloway lasted 5 2/3 and allowed six hits, four earned runs, two walks, and struck out four. After falling behind 1-0 through 2 innings, the Bulls tagged Holloway for three runs in the top half of the 3rd inning.

They piled up four hits, and Tristan Gray, who had a multi-hit night, got the damage started with a leadoff triple and quickly got knocked in by Vidal Brujan (26) off a groundball to third base. Kevin Padlo (1) and Mike Ford (3) followed later in the frame; each recording base knocks to put the Bulls upfront 3-1. Gray stayed hot the following inning and connected on an RBI single to right field that scored Esteban Quiroz and extended his club’s lead to the final score of 4-1.

It was an encouraging way to begin the series for the first-place Bulls. They will be searching for a milestone 30th win of the season when they meet the Jumbo Shrimp once again on Wednesday, June 22nd in Jacksonville.