Durham Bulls Beat Louisville Bats 4-3

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

With no outs, a runner on first and the Bulls down one run in the seventh inning, first basemen Chris Richard took Louisville’s Homer Bailey’s first offering deep over the wall in right center to put the Bulls on top 4-3 where they would remain, picking up the victory over the Bats Wednesday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

After falling behind 3-0 in the fourth, Durham used a pair of two-run homers from Jon Weber and Richard in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to blast past Louisville.

Reliever Joe Bateman picked up the win, his first of the year, just four days after joining the Bulls via free agency. Bateman came in for starting pitcher Wade Davis in the sixth, threw 1.1 scoreless frames with one walk and one strikeout.

Despite giving up three earned runs, Davis had a fairly strong outing going 5.2 innings with five hits, three walks and four strikeouts.

Three more Bulls relievers combined with Bateman to hold the Bulls scorless with only one hit allowed in their combined effort. Winston Abreu picked up the save, his fourth of the year, and is a perfect 4-4 in save opportunities after retiring three strait Louisville batters in the ninth.

With the win, the Bulls move to 19-14 and now tie their series with Louisville at one win apiece. They will play Game 3 of their series Thursday with the first pitch coming at 7:05 p.m.