Thursday, July 21, 2011

Bulls Bludgeon Red Wings, Coming Home


Game 98, July 21, Frontier Field, Rochester, New York
Durham Bulls 18, Rochester Red Wings 3
Season: 55-43; This Trip: 7-3
Wrap, Box, Play-by-Play

What an amazing game! By the time the 2nd inning was over the Bulls had hit five home runs and scored ten runs. After a short breather in the 3rd, they hit another home run as part of a 3-run 4th. Then in the 5th they scored three more runs (no homers). They took a two-inning breather, then hit another home run in the 8th.

The box score is unlike any I've ever seen put together by a Bulls team. Every Bull got at least one hit. Every Bull scored at least one run. Six different Bulls hit home runs, and new guy John Matulia hit two. All but two Bulls had RBIs, one had 4, and 4 had 3.

Dan Johnson went 5 for 6 with 3 singles, a double, a homer, and 4 RBIs. He raised his batting average by 18 points. Johnson, Russ Canzler, and Daniel Mayora were all a triple shy of a cycle.

This was the most runs in a game this year and, by far, the most total bases (44). The Team wOBA for the game was an extraordinary .576.

The two new pitchers just up from Montgomery did just fine. In fact, Jim Paduch did an exeptional job in what may have been his AAA debut. Marquis Fleming, who had a tough inning last night, came on for two innings and only gave up one hit. They did, obviously, have slightly above average run support.

This was a great ending to possibly the best road trip the Bulls have had this year. Counting the two games from the before the All-Star break, the Bulls went 7-3, and all of their losses were by just one run. In fact, all of their losses were by the exact same score, 2-3.

The forecast for tomorrow looks brutal, as does the air quality, but at least the smoke from the fires down east seems to be diminishing. What the heck, put a couple of ice cubes in your beer...

Phenom lefty Matt Moore is supposed to start tomorrow night. That might be worth the trip. And the Mud Hens have been on a run. Should be fun, even if very, very hot.

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