DURHAM, North Carolina – The Memphis Redbirds eeked out a close win over the Durham Bulls (Triple-A affiliate, Tampa Bay Rays) on Thursday night, scrapping out a 3-1 victory over the top team in the Southeast Division. Memphis scored the game’s final three runs.
Each starting pitcher was excellent on Thursday night. Chris Ellis kept Memphis (40-41) off balance for much of the evening – in 5.2 innings of work, the righthander allowed just two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. Each of Ellis’ nine strikeouts were swinging.
The lone inning that troubled Ellis was the fourth. The Redbirds scored twice off the Durham (52-28) starter in the frame, highlighted by a solo home run from Nolan Gorman. Gorman has homered twice in the first three games of this week’s six-game series, going a combined 5-13 at the plate.
Zack Thompson was outstanding in his own right for Memphis. The former first-round pick tossed six innings of brilliant baseball, allowing just three hits while striking out five Bulls batters. Thompson has been superb in his last three starts. The lefthander has gone a combined 17.0 innings while allowing just two earned runs with 15 strikeouts.
The ‘Birds added sorely needed insurance in the top of ninth. Three singles plated a run, with Rayder Ascanio providing the hit that brought home the final tally of the evening. Ascanio finished the night 3-4 at the plate.
Memphis had to dance out of danger late in the game to secure victory. First, in the eighth, Durham put runners on second and third with nobody out. However, Junior Fernandez would not be denied, striking out the next three batters in order to snuff out the threat.
Then, in the bottom of the ninth, a two-out triple for the Bulls brought the potential tying run to the plate. Grant Black shook it off and sealed the deal, inducing a lazy flyout to end the game and give the Redbirds consecutive wins over division-leading Durham.
