Durham Bulls Rout Stripers in Series Opener

DURHAM NC – The Durham Bulls (32-16) were welcomed back by the DBAP faithful after their two-week road trip and routed the Gwinnett Stripers (22-26) 8-3 on Tuesday evening. The Bulls got back to their winning ways and improved their home record to 15-9 and remain in first place in the Tripe-A East. A dominant outing by Joe Ryan on the mound and a multi-hit night by Esteban Quiroz lifted the Bulls to their 32nd victory of the 2021 season.           

Ryan (W, 3-3) managed the bump for the Bulls logging in his eighth start of the campaign. The 25-year-old fired 5 1/3 one-run innings and allowed just two hits and racked up nine strikeouts. He threw 51 of his 85 pitches for strikes and only walked one batter in Drew Waters, ending his night in the 6th. It was arguably his best start of the season, and he now supports a 3-3 record with a 3.73 ERA.

The Bulls bats got it going in the bottom of the 2nd inning versus Stripers starter Nolan Kingham (L, 0-1), who made his Triple-A debut. Kingham struggled, lasting 3 1/3 innings and surrendered nine hits, six earned runs, two walks, and struck out two. The offense put up a two-spot against the 6 foot 4 right-hander, starting with a Dalton Kelly lead-off five-pitch walk to begin the frame. Ryan Boldt and Quiroz followed each smacking doubles and Quiroz was responsible for the runs driving in both Kelly and Boldt to put the Bulls on the board for an early 2-0 advantage.   

Kelly returned in the third and delivered his eighth home run of the season, sending a Kingham fastball to straightaway centerfield for a no-doubter. Brett Sullivan continued the brief home run derby in the 4th, crushing a three-run dinger for his third of 2021 to double the lead to 6-0. It was a breeze the rest of the way for the Bulls as they put together a complete game as the lineup finished with eight runs off 13 hits. The Stripers did indeed add two runs in the 6th and one in the 8th to finalize the score at 8-3.

Following the win, the two clubs will be back tomorrow for game two of the series on Wednesday, June 30th, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It will mark the Bulls final game in the month of June.