Strong pitching a theme as Bulls, Mudcats continue to thrive near top of standings
The Durham Bulls’ season turnaround hit an apex last Sunday when they clinched a series win over West division-leading Nashville with a 4-1 win over the Sounds at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Shane Baz, who’s been solid all season for the Bulls, reached double-digit strikeouts with 10 in just 4.1 innings worth of work to lead the early efforts. He allowed just one run on four hits.
Ben Bowden, Zack Erwin, Chris Muller, Javy Guerra and Cristofer Ogando combined for 4.2 hitless innings after that to secure the victory.
On the offensive side of things, Jonathan Aranda belted a solo home run in the first inning, and Mile Mastrobuoni and Luke Raley added RBI singles for a 3-1 advantage, and in the sixth, Aranda scampered hom on a double steal to push the lead to its final margin of 4-1.
Through Thursday night’s games, the Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, were seeing mixed success on their most recent road trip, this time to Memphis. Despite scoring eight runs over two games to open the series Tuesday and Wednesday, the Bulls dropped the first two games in Memphis, 6-5 and 6-3.
They rebounded Thursday, however, throwing 10 runs up on the board to win, 10-7, against the Redbirds.
Xavier Edwards and Raley led the way offensively Thursday for Durham, combining for six hits and seven RBI. Ryan Boldt also homered for the Bulls, which have maintained their fourth-place standing in the International League’s East division, just five games out of first.
Rochester, the Washington Nationals’ AAA affiliate, leads the division, followed by Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia) and Buffalo (Toronto).
Jacksonville (Miami) and Norfolk (Baltimore) were each one game back of the Bulls through Thursday’s contests.
The Bulls finished out their road trip to Memphis this weekend, and after a day off Monday return to play at DBAP for a six-game set against the Louisville Bats beginning Tuesday.
One special night within that homestand, on Sunday, June 19, will see the Bulls honor the former Negro League teams of Durham by wearing special Durham Black Sox jerseys and hats, part of a wider Juneteenth celebration across Minor League Baseball.
Mudcats cling to top
After closing out their most recent road trip with a win in Lynchbug, the Carolina Mudcats returned home this week to face the top team in the Carolina League South standings, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
The Mudcats fell in the series opener on Tuesday in an offensive battle, 10-8, but after weather forced a washout on Wednesday, they rebounded with a doubleheader sweep of Myrtle Beach on Thursday night in a pair of tight, pitching-heavy, 7-inning contests, winning 3-2 in the opener, and 2-1 in the nightcap.
Stiven Cruz struck out six while earning his first victory in the opener. Edwin Jimenez followed that outing with a strong performance of his own, hurling five scoreless frames while earning his first win, as well.
Jackson Chourio was 3-for-3 with a home run in the second game to pace the offense for Carolina, and Jeferson Quero collected two hits and scored twice in both games.
Through Thursday’s contests, Carolina was still locked in a tight division race, with a one-game lead on Lynchburg and two each on Fredericksburg and Salem.
After the current Mudcats homestand, the team heads out on the road for two full weeks, first to Columbia, South Carolina to take on the Fireflies, and then to Kinston to face the Down East Wood Ducks. The Mudcats’ next home series is slated to begin on June 28 against Fayetteville.
