Bulls take slow start to begin second half of season

The Durham Bulls kicked off the second half of the season with a six-game series versus the Lehigh Valley IronPigs from June 25-30.

The IronPigs sat No. 9 in the east, 1.5 games above Charlotte in last.

The Bulls and IronPigs faced off earlier in the season, splitting the six-game series in April, 3-3. The Bulls outscored the IronPigs by 14 runs in the series, in large part to a 28-10 victory to open the series.

Despite the IronPigs’ struggles throughout the first half of the season, they found success against the Bulls, winning four of the six games in the recent series.

Game one

The IronPigs took command early in the series, taking a 9-2 win in the first game.

C.J. Hinojosa was responsible for both of the Bulls’ two runs, sending home both Logan Driscoll and Jake Mangum on a two-RBI double.

Game two

The Bulls bounced back from the first loss, taking a 7-2 victory.

Curtis Mead, Austin Shenton and René Pinto were responsible for three runs each.

The game was even at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the third, but that is when the Bulls took command as Mead hit a solo homer and Pinto scored a two-run homer.

Game three

The Bulls took a narrow victory in game three of the series, their first back-to-back victories in two weeks.

The game came down to the wire, with the score tied 4-4 heading into the ninth.

The IronPigs took the late lead with a home run by Weston Wilson, putting pressure on the Bulls.

This pressure fell hard onto Shenton, who stepped up to the plate with two runners on base and two outs on the board.

Shenton delivered a ground ball single to left field to score Mead and send Ronny Simon into scoring position.

Logan Driscoll produced the walk-off RBI, hitting a line drive single to right field and allowing Simon to score from third for the 6-5 victory.

Game four

The series’ momentum switched in the fourth game, with a Bulls loss similar to their first in the series.

The IronPigs downed the Bulls 9-3, despite the Bulls only down by one run heading into the fifth.

Game five

The Bulls were off to a hot start in the fifth game, taking a 3-0 lead through the first two innings.

The next four innings saw the IronPigs scoring nine unanswered runs.

The Bulls fell 10-4, tying the series.

Heriberto Hernandez was the only Bulls batter responsible for two runs, grabbing a run and an RBI.

Joe Record struck out four batters for the Bulls while allowing a hit and a run, but only saw 2.1 innings on the mound.

Game six

The Bulls needed a win to tie the series, but they could not deliver, losing 6-3.

The teams went back-and-forth scoring and they remained tied at three after five innings.

The Bulls could not find home again after this point, however. The IronPigs added three more runs to take the 6-3 victory, securing the series win.

The series loss gives the Bulls a 2-4 start to the second half of the season.

Up next

The Bulls next face the Norfolk Tides in a six-game series.

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