Bulls squeeze out second straight in series with Gwinnett

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — The Durham Bulls defeated the Gwinnett Stripers 8-5 on Friday evening to tie their series with the ball club.

Despite only winning three of their last nine games, the Bulls still sit atop the International League East with a 0.5-game lead above Scranton. A big reason for Durham’s success tonight was the superb batting from their lineup as the Stripers bullpen gave up 11 hits.

Bulls RHP Taj Bradley received the win on Durham’s end after striking out six batters in six innings pitched. On the other hand, Gwinnett RHP Mike Soroka received the loss after allowing six runs, six hits, and six errors on the night.

Both teams started hot as both Bulls DH Luke Raley and Stripers RF Greyson Jenista sent solo home runs out of the park in the second inning.

Raley would extend the Durham lead again later in the third inning with a three-run homer to right field, giving the Bulls a 4-1 lead. Bulls CF Miles Mastrobuoni added to the fun with an RBI single that brought in Vidal Brujan for the score. CF Grant Witherspoon drilled a solo homer to deep right field to give the Bulls a comfortable 6-1 lead after three.

Gwinnett’s Jenista homered once more with a two-run bomb to center field as the Stripers attempted to draw closer in the fourth inning. The score would stay at 6-3 until the seventh inning when Durham’s Brujan scored on a balk as Josh Lowe was at the plate.

Although the Stripers would score twice again before the night was over, matters proved too little too late for Gwinnett to overcome.

The Bulls look to extend their win streak against Gwinnett to three in a row tomorrow as they take them on at 6:05 p.m. at Colray Field in Georgia.