Lowe Hits Grand Slam, Bulls Defeat Nashville

DURHAM, NC – Brandon Lowe connected for a tie-breaking grand slam to lead the Durham Bulls past the Nashville Sounds 5-3 on Wednesday night at the DBAP.

Tied in the fourth inning, Lowe worked a professional nine-pitch at-bat against Tyler Woessner before smashing the 10th delivery for a slam into the right field bleachers to give Durham (14-21) a 5-1 lead. Prior to the slam, Jake Mangum and Ronny Simon singled, followed by a nine-pitch walk to Rob Brantly to fill the bases.

Carlos Garcia opened the game for Durham with two hitless innings against the Sounds (16-19). Then two rookie Triple-A pitchers stepped into the limelight. Jonny Cuevas (W, 1-0), who was called up from High-A Bowling Green, threw three innings of one-run ball. Antonio Jimenez entered after Cuevas and tossed two scoreless innings after a call-up from Double-A Montgomery. Nelson Alvarez and Trevor Brigden closed out the Durham win that evened the series.

Lowe, an American League all-star rehabbing a right oblique injury for Tampa Bay, went 1-2 with his grand slam and two walks. Jonathan Aranda, also on a major league rehab, reached base three more times on a single plus two walks. Aranda reached base five times on Tuesday.

The Bulls continue their six-game homestand Thursday night at 6:35 PM ET against Nashville with Joe Rock (1-1, 5.19) starting against Chad Patrick (1-1, 4.01).