This baseball season, Chapelboro.com is following the Durham Bulls and sharing recaps of each series played. Check in each Monday for details on how the Triple-A team fared against its opponents, either on the road or in downtown Durham!
The Bulls continued their 2023 season chasing a Triple-A National Championship three-peat in a series facing off against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Inclement weather notwithstanding, the Bulls took home a series win across a few tight games.
On the plus side, we're leaving Jacksonville with a series win, which means… pic.twitter.com/a2L81Djsz8
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) April 9, 2023
Plenty of action took place on the Jacksonville diamond across five games! Read the descriptions below, as they were shared on the Durham Bulls website and MiLB.com.
Opening the series with a commanding 14-8 victory, the Bulls got off to a strong start.
Bulls third baseman Jonathan Aranda homered and drove in four runs, while a five-run seventh inning helped power Durham to a 14-8 victory over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Tuesday evening at 121 Financial Ballpark.
Aranda drove in his first run of the night with a first-inning RBI single. After the Jumbo Shrimp plated a trio of tallies in the last of the second, Durham answered with a four-spot in the second. CF Vidal Brujan’s RBI groundout made it a one-run game before Aranda crushed an opposite-field three-run blast to put the Bulls head 5-3. Jacksonville, however, would even the contest with a pair of scores in the last of the second before going ahead with two more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to make it 8-5.
Durham would later roar ahead with a big five-run seventh inning highlighted by C Rene Pinto’s RBI single. Basabe would then drive in two with a single to right before LF Ben Gamel capped the frame with a run-scoring single to right. One frame later, the Bulls would add three more tallies as Basabe drove in his third run by reaching on a fielder’s choice before SS Tristan Gray ripped an RBI single up the middle. DH Curtis Mead would cap Durham’s scoring with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Coming back from a defeat, the Jumbo Shrimp had a strong showing that nevertheless ended in a 5-2 win for the Bulls.
Bulls right fielder Ben Gamel, catcher Nick Dini and second baseman Osleivis Basabe all homered, while Durham starting pitcher Elvin Rodriguez struck out seven over five solid innings in a 5-2 victory over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Wednesday evening at 121 Financial Ballpark.
Gamel got the scoring started with a deep solo shot to center to put the Bulls ahead 1-0. After the Jumbo Shrimp evened the tally in the last of the fourth, Dini left the yard with a solo blast to left to put Durham ahead 2-1 before 1B Jonathan Aranda’s RBI single to center made it 3-1.
That advantage would rise to three one frame later when Dini lofted a sacrifice fly to center. A single Jacksonville tally in the last of the eighth, however, would narrow the margin back to two before Basabe bashed his first Triple-A longball, a ninth-inning solo shot, to make it 5-2. Jacksonville would put the tying runs on base in the ninth, however were unable to erase their deficit.
Notching yet another win at a clean 11-7, the Bulls took home the third game thanks to some fantastic performances from third baseman Chris Mead, shortstop Tristan Gray and more!
Bulls third baseman Curtis Mead clubbed three hits and drove in two runs and shortstop Tristan Gray smashed a home run with four runs batted in, while starting pitcher Taj Bradley set down the fifteen batters he faced over five strong innings in Durham’s 11-7 win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Thursday night at 121 Financial Ballpark.
Mead and Gray each drove in their first runs of the night with run-scoring doubles in the opening frame. Following a single score from the Jumbo Shrimp in the last of the first, RF Kameron Misner mashed his first Triple-A homer, a solo shot, in the second, while 1B Kyle Manzardo’s RBI single one frame later made it 3-1.
That score would remain the same until the sixth when Durham exploded for seven tallies, with RF Ruben Cardenas, Mead and C Rene Pinto all recording run-scoring singles as part of the big inning before Gray put an exclamation mark on the frame with a three-run blast to right. Jacksonville would then plate a five-spot in the sixth, followed by another run in the eighth to narrow the margin to four.
In the fourth game of the series, the Jumbo Shrimp finally marked a win in a narrow 4-3 victory on Friday.
Bulls catcher Nick Dini smashed two hits, including a home run, and third baseman Curtis Mead drove in two runs, however Jumbo Shrimp designated hitter C.J. Hinojosa’s game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth gave Jacksonville a 4-3 victory over Durham on Friday night at 121 Financial Ballpark.
After the Jumbo Shrimp grabbed an early 1-0 advantage in the first, the Bulls answered with a three-spot in the third. Dini slammed a solo homer to even the contest before Mead clubbed a two-run double to right-center to put Durham ahead 3-1. Jacksonville, however, would even the contest at 3-3 with two tallies in the fourth, a score that would remain the same until Hinojosa’s game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Dini (2-3, R, HR, RBI, BB), 1B Ben Gamel (2-5) and SS Tristan Gray (2-5, 2B) each recorded multi-hit efforts for the Bulls. Jumbo Shrimp 2B Xavier Edwards (3-5, R), meanwhile, posted a game-high three knocks.
Wit hSaturday’s game called on account of inclement weather, the final game of the series saw another Jumbo Shrimp win 8-3, but the Bulls still took home the series overall.
Bulls left fielder Niko Hulsizer drove in two runs and first baseman Ben Gamel extended his hit streak to six with a double, however Jumbo Shrimp starting pitcher Jeff Lindgren fired five-plus solid frames and left fielder Peyton Burdrick homered and drove in two runs in Jacksonville’s 8-3 win over Durham on Sunday afternoon at 121 Financial Ballpark.
The Jumbo Shrimp struck first in the opening frame courtesy of 1B Jordan Groshans’s RBI single to right, before the Bulls answered when RF Ruben Cardenas came across on an RBI groundout in the third. Groshans, however, would strike again with a run-scoring double to right in the third, putting Jacksonville ahead 2-1.
The margin would remain the same until the sixth, when the Jumbo Shrimp plated a four-spot in the sixth to make it 6-1, before Burdick would deep with a two-run blast in the seventh. Hulsizer would later drive in two runs with a double down the left field line in the ninth to narrow Durham’s deficit to five.
Burdick (2-4, R, HR, 2 RBI), Groshans (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI), DH Xavier Edwards (2-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB) and RF Jerar Encarnacion (2-4, 2 R) all tallied multi-hit efforts for Jacksonville. Bulls RF Ruben Cardenas (2-4, 2 R) was the lone batter from the road side to record two or more knocks.
The next home series at DBAP kicks off on Tuesday, April 11, against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Click here to view the Bulls’ full 2023 schedule!
We'll be back home again before you know it!
Here's just some of the fun to look forward to.
— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) April 3, 2023
(featured image via Durham Bulls)
You can follow the Bulls on Twitter and Instagram for updates and news directly from the team, and tickets for all 2023 Durham Bulls home games can be purchased at DurhamBulls.com, or by calling 919.956.BULL
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