Durham Bulls Beat Gwinnett Braves 10-9 In 14

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

The Bulls rallied back from being down as much as five runs to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and then come back again in the bottom of the 14th with a walk-off double from Jon Weber as they win 10-9 over Gwinnett in a five hour, 14-inning marathon on Friday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

With the bases loaded, two outs and the Bulls down by two, Weber laced Deunte Heath’s 3-2 pitch to the gap in right-center driving in three runs including the game winner.

Ray Olmedo (1-0), who started the game at third base, picked up the win in his first career pitching appearance. He tossed two innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits including a homerun.

The Bulls fell behind 6-1 after five before mounting their comeback. They posted back-to-back two run innings in the sixth and seventh while Gwinnett also added one run in the seventh to make the score 7-5.

That score would remain until the bottom of the ninth. Reid Brignac connected on Luis Valdez’s 2-2 pitch for a two-out, two-run homer to tie the game at 7-7.

Both teams were unable to plate any runs for the next four innings until Gwinnett scored two off Olmedo with a homer from Wes Timmons and a throwing error from Fernando Perez giving the G-Braves a 9-7 lead.

Weber’s bases clearing double won the game for the Bulls and he finished 4-7 on the night with three RBI. The two-bagger was his league leading 45th of the year.

The win gives the Bulls a one game lead over the Braves for first place in the International League South Division. They will look to add some cushion to that lead Sunday as righty Jeremy Hellickson (4-1) takes the mound for Durham against Gwinnett’s Bobby Brownlie (4-1) with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m.