Durham Bulls Beat Rochester Red Wings 10-1

[Via email from the Durham Bulls Director of Media Relations Matt DeMargel.]

The Bulls offense posted double digits while their pitching staff held Rochester to a single run as Durham won handedly 10-1, in their get-away game with the Red Wings Tuesday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Bulls finished the homestand with a 6-2 record over Louisville and Rochester.

Bulls’ pitcher Carlos Hernandez (3-2) posted his best outing of the season, shutting out Rochester in seven innings of work, while allowing two hits and two walks with four strikeouts. With Hernandez’s quality start, the Bulls last three starting pitchers - Hernandez, David Price, and Wade Davis - have kept their opponents scoreless in three straight games. The 18.2 scoreless innings from the three Bulls hurlers have now dropped Durham’s starting pitching ERA from 4.25 to 3.84.

Reliever Joe Bateman came in for Hernandez in the eighth, and proceeded to give up the Red Wings only run, ending Rochester’s 18-inning scoreless streak dating back to the eighth inning in Game 2 of the series last Sunday. Bateman finished with one inning pitched, allowing a run on one hit and one walk with one strikeout. Bateman was followed up by Chad Orvella who closed out the game in the ninth, allowing a hit, walk and two strikeouts.

Offensively, Durham posted four multiple-run innings including three straight in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames. The slugfest started off in the first with a bases-loaded single by Matt Joyce off Rochester’s Jason Jones to score two. The Bulls’ barrage was highlighted by a two-run bomb over the Blue Monster in left from Ray Sadler, his fifth homer of the year.

With the win, the Bulls clinched a 3-1 series victory over the Red Wings and finished with a 6-2 record in their eight-game homestand. The Bulls now have an International League best 16-7 record at home, where they have yet to lose a series.

The Bulls will take the day off Wednesday as they prepare for their eight-game road trip starting with LeHigh Valley on Thursday. Lefty James Houser will take the mound for Durham as they take on their second straight IL North division opponent.