Bulls Dominate Jumbo Shrimp 9-1

JACKSONVILLE FL – Another game and another victory for the Durham Bulls (16-6) as they snagged their fourth straight versus the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (13-9) 9-1 on Friday night. They now support a seven-game win streak and have sole possession of first place. The incredible scoreless inning streak from the Bulls pitching staff was snapped at 33. The Jumbo Shrimp finally put a run on the board in the bottom of the seventh credited to a sacrifice fly by Deven Marrero that brought in Lewin Diaz.

Drew Strotman (4-0) remained calm, cool, and collective on the rubber, putting together another strong start. He remained undefeated, tossing five scoreless innings with six hits, three walks, and struck out four.

The right-hander stumbled into trouble immediately in the bottom of the first, putting the first two batters of the game on base. He surrendered a single against Monte Harrison and walked Diaz. He settled in quickly, forcing two groundouts, and collected his first strikeout of the game to escape the inning with no damage done. It set the tone for the rest of the way breezing through the next four innings.

The Bulls were all over starter Elieser Hernandez who was down in the minors on a rehab assignment. He is currently recovering from a bicep injury for the Marlins and allowed seven runs off six hits and struck out five. Durham piled up a seven-spot in the top half of the third against Hernandez to put away the contest before it barely started.

Ryan Boldt connected on his fourth double of the campaign to open up the scoring knocking in Tristan Gray and Joseph Odom. The run parade continued with two Bulls home runs. Wander Franco connected on a two-run homer, and Esteban Quiroz blasted a three-run dinger to put them upfront 7-0. It was the fourth long ball of the season for the phenom Franco and the third for Quiroz, who homered in game one. Franco enjoyed a productive night collecting two hits and three RBIs. The club ended the game by posting two more runs in the seventh and eighth to finalize the 9-1 victory.

Joey Krehbiel, Tyler Zombro, and Louis Head finished business out of the bullpen. The three combined for four innings of work, giving up the one lone run of the game off seven hits and two strikeouts.

The Bulls currently sit at a season-best 16-6 record and do not look like they intend to slow down anytime soon. They are scheduled to finish off the series versus the Jumbo Shrimp on Saturday, May 29th, and Sunday, May 30th, in Jacksonville.