Bulls Carried by Shutdown Pitching in 3-0 Win

JACKSONVILLE FL – The Durham Bulls (14-6) and their pitching staff closed the door against the Jacksonville Shrimp (13-7), shutting them out 3-0 on Wednesday night. The victory gives the Bulls seven wins in their last eight games, outscoring their opponents 51-33 in that span. The offense was the key factor in last night’s 13-5 win, but it was the pitching for Durham that was lights out in game two.

Dietrich Enns toed the rubber for the Bulls logging in his third start of the season. He was dominant all game long. Enns tossed five 1/3 shutout innings, surrendering a lone hit and walk, and racked up four strikeouts. His five-plus innings was by far his longest outing in 2021, as he pitched just 10 innings in his previous three appearances. The one-hit occurred in the bottom half of the second as Bryson Brigman connected on a two-out single to right field. Enns was nearly hitless the rest of the way sitting down the last 11 of 12 hitters he faced, including 10 straight following the base hit. The stellar performance rewarded him with his first victory and dropped his ERA significantly from 3.60 to 2.35.

Brian Moran, Phoenix Sanders, Ryan Sherriff, and Yacksel Rios followed Enns. They delivered an additional three 2/3 hitless frames and allowed zero walks with six combined strikeouts. It was highly encouraging to see this type of production from the Bulls arms, especially against a stingy lineup like the Jumbo Shrimp.

It did not take long for the Bulls offense to get on the board. At the top of the first, the dynamic duo of Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco delivered versus Jumbo Shrimp starter Daniel Castano. Brujan led off the contest drawing an eight-pitch walk, and immediately took second base for his ninth stolen base on the season. It then allowed Franco to drive him in on a single to left field, which gave him his 14th RBI. Deivy Grullon extended the lead to 2-0 in the fifth launching his third homer of the season over the left-field fence. The club’s third and final run came in the ninth from a Wyatt Mathisen RBI single that knocked in Josh Lowe.

The Bulls will now focus on the final four games versus Jacksonville and will look to stay ahead and win the series. If they do, they will leap the Jumbo Shrimp and have sole possession of first place.