Durham Bulls Stay Hot Against Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Bulls third baseman Curtis Mead clubbed three hits and drove in two runs and shortstop Tristan Gray smashed a home run with four runs batted in, while starting pitcher Taj Bradley set down the fifteen batters he faced over five strong innings in Durham’s 11-7 win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Thursday night at 121 Financial Ballpark.

Mead and Gray each drove in their first runs of the night with run-scoring doubles in the opening frame. Following a single score from the Jumbo Shrimp in the last of the first, RF Kameron Misner mashed his first Triple-A homer, a solo shot, in the second, while 1B Kyle Manzardo’s RBI single one frame later made it 3-1.

That score would remain the same until the sixth when Durham exploded for seven tallies, with RF Ruben Cardenas, Mead and C Rene Pinto all recording run-scoring singles as part of the big inning before Gray put an exclamation mark on the frame with a three-run blast to right. Jacksonville would then plate a five-spot in the sixth, followed by another run in the eighth to narrow the margin to four.

All nine Bulls batters posted at least one hit, while seven of nine recorded at least one RBI. Mead (3-5, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Gray (2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, Manzardo (2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI), Pinto (2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI) and DH Osleivis Basabe (2-5, 2 R) each tallying two or more knocks.

Bradley (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO) earned his first victory of the year with his five solid innings pitched, retiring each of the final 15 batters he faced. Jacksonville starting pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez (5.2 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) suffered the defeat.

The two teams are slated to continue their six-game series on Friday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05pm. RHP Cooper Criswell is expected to get the ball for the Bulls and be opposed by RHP Bryan Hoeing.

The Bulls return home on Tuesday, April 11 to begin a six-game homestand versus the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-Affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. First pitch of that series’ opener is scheduled for a special Education Day 11:05am start.