As he has done several times this season, Matt Diaz carried the Durham Bulls (71-61) on his shoulders.
The International League MVP front-runner was 3-for-4 with three doubles last night against the Charlotte Knights (64-66). The final double moved Durham second baseman Brooks Badeaux to third base with nobody out in the 10th inning. Two batters latter, Jared Sandberg hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field, and Badeaux trotted home to secure the Bulls’ dramatic 2-1 extra-inning victory.
“[Diaz] is going to finish it up strong, the way it should be,” Durham coach Bill Evers said. “Everybody should try to finish up strong, and that’s how people remember.”
The win tightens the Bulls’ grip on the league’s wild card spot, thanks to Scranton-WB’s 7-5 loss to the Ottawa Lynx.
The game commenced with a rocky start for the Bulls. Starter Doug Waechter could not locate either his fastball or breaking ball, and was forced to pitch out of jams in the first two innings. In the top of the first, he walked the bases loaded, and escaped via a strikeout of Charlotte DH Morgan Burkhart. In the following frame, Waechter allowed runners to reach second and third before second baseman Bryant Nelson to flied out to center.
After Waechter regained control of his fastball and settled down, he went on to pitch three additional scoreless innings.
“[Waecther] battled through five, was really out of sync early in the first inning, but he got through five innings without giving up a run,” Evers said. “He got his work in and gave us an opportunity.”
The bullpen kept the game close and held the Knights scoreless through the seventh inning. The Durham pitchers had little room for error, as Charlotte starter Tetsu Yofu was in complete control of the Bulls’ lineup. The Japanese right hander threw off the timing of the Durham batters with a devastating mix of fastballs, changeups and curveballs. Yofu, who had no-hit the Bulls back on Aug. 1, escaped an impressive jam in the top of was the seventh. After putting runners on first and third with nobody out, he struck out back-to-back batters with off speed pitches, and then got left fielder Johnny Gomes to hit a lazy fly ball to center field.
“[Yofu] had a really sneaky fastball, and a good curve,” Sandberg said. “It was enough to keep us off balance.”
The Bulls were the first team to yield a run. In the top of the eighth, Charlotte cleanup hitter Reggie Taylor broke the stalemate when he sent the second pitch he saw from righty reliever Jeremy Gonzalez into the right field bleachers. Durham responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning. With runners on first and second, Matt Diaz stroked a two-out double into left field. Charles Gipson scored from second, but trail runner Joey Gathright was held at third base and the Bulls stranded the go-ahead run on third.
The Bulls had another scoring opportunity in the bottom of the ninth after Gomes and backup catcher Paul Hoover reached base with infield singles. The threat was quickly neutralized, however, when shortstop Luis Ordaz stuck out and Gathright grounded out to pitcher to end the inning.
Frank Nunez earned the victory for the Bulls. Nunez pitched a scoreless 10th, where he struck out two batters thanks to a blazing fastball that reached into the mid 90s.
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