Durham Bulls Become the First Triple-A Team to Reach 40 Wins

DURHAM NC- The Durham Bulls (40-19) continue their dominant first half of the 2021 campaign by becoming the first Triple-A club to reach 40 wins. This past Sunday, they secured this milestone by defeating the Norfolk Tides (24-32) on the road by a score of 1-0. With game three of the series postponed to July 28th, the Bulls managed to snag four wins in five games versus the Tides and support an impressive 8-1 record in July.

Even with a handful of promising prospects, most recently Vidal Brujan, receiving call-ups to the Tampa Bays organization, the Bulls continue to have new guys step up in big spots. Starting pitcher Joe Ryan, who is on his way to Tokyo for the Olympics to represent team USA along with Shane Baz has found his stride at the right time. In Sunday’s 1-0 win, Ryan (4-3) fired 7 shutout innings while surrendering just one hit and a walk and struck out nine Tides. With the quality outing, he earned himself MiLB player of the week honors. 

Ryan is now 4-3 with a 3.57 ERA in 11 starts and has struck 70 batters to his 10 walks. The 25-year-old righty has been flawless as of late. In four of his last five starts, he has gone at least 5 frames of work while giving up two runs or less. 

A Kevin Padlo (9) solo home run in the top of the 7th was all the Bulls needed due to their excellent pitching. Padlo has been one of the many to step up, already recording two homers in 10 games in July, bringing him to a total of nine.

It is a long season, but all signs point that the Bulls are not expected to slow down anytime soon, no matter who is in the starting lineup. They should remain on top for the entirety of the season and could be the World Series favorites as of right now, especially if they keep delivering the long ball to complement their successful pitching performances. The Bulls will be back home in Durham to open up a six-game series versus the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Tuesday, July 13th, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.