STAFF REPORTS
In a game that had five lead changes and three ties, the Durham Bulls came out on top for a second straight night – this time coming in extra innings.
Trailing 4-3 heading into the bottom of the 10th, a RBI triple from Dalton Kelly followed by Jason Coats‘ sacrifice fly three batters later capped off the 5-4 victory over the Bisons Saturday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC.
After the Bulls failed to execute in the ninth inning and left two base-runners stranded following Adam’s back-to-back strikeouts against former Bison Tyler Ladendorf and pinch-hitter Jesus Sanchez, the Bulls got a break in the bottom of the extra frame. There, Adam was called for a balk, allowing the free base runner Dashenko Ricardo to advance to third and eventually score on Kelly’s hit two batters later.
Also responsible for another sacrifice fly for Durham’s early 2-1 lead, Coats’ hit in the 10th went to deep center for Kelly’s easy jog down the third base line, dropping the Bisons to 2-7 in extra-inning games this year.
This sequence of events came after the Bisons had a chance to build their own lead in the top half of the 10th. With runners on the corners, Patrick Kivlehan sent a sharp base hit into the outfield grass off Durham reliever Hoby Milner for the temporary 4-3 Buffalo lead and bringing around Jonathan Davis to score. The momentum ended abruptly after this hit, though, as Milner struck out Richard Urena and forced Jordan Patterson into an inning-ending double-play.
For Kivlehan, this wasn’t the first time he came through with timely hitting in the game. With Buffalo still trailing 2-1 in the 6th inning and moments after Rowdy Tellez‘s lead-off single, Kivlehan sent a ball over the left-center field for a two-run home-run and move Buffalo back in front, 3-2. His 20th home run of the season while in Triple-A – and 16th with the Herd – Kivlehan also had a double in his first at-bat in the second inning to finish with a three-hit, 3 RBI game.
Kivlehan’s temporary cushion was quickly erased in the bottom of the sixth, though, when Daniel Robertson’s solo home run off Feierabend tied the game at 3. Robertson’s home run came in his first game of an MLB rehab assignment with Durham.
Despite also allowing Kelly’s RBI double in the third to tie the game at 1, Feierabend had a strong start and made his way through other Durham challenges. Primarily using his knuckleball, Feierabend posted a new season-high eight strikeouts and retired his first eight batters of the game. Over his 5.1 innings of work, Feierabend was only accounted for two of the three runs Durham scored and threw 92 pitches.
After Wong hit his final of two singles against Feierabend in the sixth, Kirby Snead came in and retired all five batters he faced – including three consecutive strikeouts – to keep the game tied at 3.
Zach Jackson threw in the eighth, recording a walk and a strikeout, before handing the ball over to Adam, who earned his second loss of the season. Overall, both pitching staffs recorded 14 strikeouts each.
In the loss, Michael De La Cruz also had a sacrifice pop-out when he brought home Urena for the 1-0 lead in the second – an inning that ended with Buffalo leaving the bases loaded.
