The replay: Bulls, Mudcats in action; Zombro activated; Canes win pair of key games
The Durham Bulls plied their trade away from the friendly confines of Durham Bulls Athletic Park this past week, and took an offense in need of a jolt to Norfolk after one last home game against Jacksonville.
Needless to say, the week did not start out as planned.
After losing the final game of their homestand to Jacksonville, 8-1, the Bulls dropped the first two on the road at Norfolk, 7-5 and 3-0.
Bright spots in the three losses included René Pinto, who went 4-for-8 with two runs scored in the first two games of the week, and Miles Matstrobuoni, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored, two RBI and a home run in the opener against the Tides.
The week seemed to shift for the Bulls with an uplifting announcement: After nearly a year of rehab following brain surgery, Tyler Zombro was activated off the injured list and placed on the Bulls’ active roster.
Zombro attended the Tampa Bay Rays spring training camp and returned to the mound on March 26. He faced two batters and recorded two outs against the Boston Red Sox.
The Bulls placed him on the 7-day IL in early April, but Wednesday fully activated him. He was eligible to pitch that night in the team’s 3-0 loss, but did not.
The following night, the team found its offensive stroke. Second baseman Jonathan Aranda went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, third baseman Vidal Bruján added a triple, two hits and three runs scored and shortstop Tristan Gray smacked a home run among his pair of hits to lead the Bulls to an 11-6 win over Norfolk.
After finishing its series at Norfolk on Sunday, the Bulls return home for a six-game set against Memphis. Unique to this series is an 11 a.m. game Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Mudcats did play at home this week, also to mixed results.
After completing its road series at Fredericksburg with a much needed win, Carolina started its home swing against Lynchburg with a pair of solid victories, outscoring the Hillcats 12-2 over two days.
Hendry Mendez was on fire in the first game of the series. The 18-year-old outfielder had three hits, three runs scored and four RBI with a double and a home run to pace the Mudcats.
Race stays interesting
The Carolina Hurricanes seemingly had the Metropolitan Division wrapped up a little more than a month ago, but a stretch of mediocre hockey combined with opponents having good runs has made the division race tight with a few games to play.
This past week was a mixed back for the Canes. Despite a pair of wins, the team never looked completely in sync. That said, they did win on the road in Arizona, and then in come-from-behind fashion Thursday against the Jets, keeping pace with the streaking New York Rangers, with one week to play in the season.
One main highlight from the week was the return to the lineup of Jordan Staal. Perhaps the hottest Hurricane before he was injured in a game against Colorado on April 16, Staal sat out only one game before being reinserted into the lineup against Winnipeg on Thursday.
On cue, he had another goal.
COVID trips up Duke coach
Duke’s baseball team played ACC games at Georgia Tech this weekend without head coach Chris Pollard leading them in the dugout.
Pollard tested positive for COVID-19 and missed games this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta.
In his 10th season at Duke, Pollard led the Blue Devils to their first ACC tournament championship in program history last season.
This season, the Blue Devils (16-21, 6-12 ACC) are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017. However, Duke is coming off a three-game sweep over then-No. 10 Notre Dame at Jack Coombs Field last weekend.
Sports reporter Steve Wiseman contributed to this story.
