Durham Bulls open Triple-A national title defense amid fun, fanfare at DBAP, despite loss

The wait to see Durham Bulls baseball was shorter than ever this offseason.

Before the calendar even turned to April, Durham Bulls Athletic Park welcomed the team that’s won the last two Triple-A national championships home.

Rings commemorating the latest title were handed out following the game, which Norfolk won 6-4 on the strength of two home runs among its 10 total hits.

A crowd of 8,733 sat through early rain but most stayed for the postgame celebration that included a rousing fireworks display.

“It was fun and it was an electric atmosphere,” Bulls first-year manager Michael Johns said. “Even with the rain the crowd was into it and I thought it was really fun. Obviously I wish we had won, but I thought there were a lot of positives to take away.”

Rene Pinto’s towering two-run home run in the first inning thrilled the crowd and put the Bulls on top early.

But starting pitcher Taj Bradley could not protect the lead. The righthander, named the No. 37 prospect in the minors by Baseball America, surrendered a three-run home run to former East Carolina slugger Connor Norby with two outs in the second inning.

Johns removed Bradley following the inning. In his 55-pitch outing, he fired only 32 strikes while walking three and allowing four hits. He did strike out four Norfolk hitters before leaving on the wrong side of a 3-2 score.

Johns said Bradley could have thrown up to 75 pitches Friday night. But the combination of all the baserunners he allowed, necessitating high-leverage pitches, plus the rainy night led him to be cautious.

Durham’s rally in the bottom of the first, causing Bradley to sit a bit longer than usual between his innings, also impacted Johns’ decision.

“We weren’t real comfortable with just the amount of time he sat with what we did on offense,” Johns said. “There were a lot of variables. We were really 50-50 on it. But just with the nature of the pitches he was throwing, thought we’d probably err on the side of caution in his first outing. If this is July, he’s probably going back for the third.”

Trevor Brigdon replaced Bradley and shut down Norfolk in the third inning.

The Bulls tied the score when Osleivis Basabe singled to drive in Jonathan Aranda.

But Brigden couldn’t navigate the fourth while keeping the game tied.

Ryan O’Hearn singled to drive in Colton Cowser giving the Tides a 4-3 lead. Josh Lester followed by blasting a home run to centerfield where a Durham fan caught the ball while watching from the grassy berm and holding a beverage in his right hand.

That 6-3 deficit proved too large for the Bulls to overcome, especially since the top two batters in their order, Vidal Brujan and Curtis Mead, combined to go 0-for-9. Mead, the No. 44 prospect in the minors, had a particularly rough night, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts while stranding five runners.

The Bulls and Tides continue their season-opening weekend series with games Saturday at 1:05 p.m. and Sunday at 5:05 p.m.