Four homers and yet another stellar outing from rookie sensation Matt Moore just weren’t good enough for the Durham Bulls on Tuesday night.
Singles by Josh Bell and Brendan Harris scored the go-ahead and insurance runs in the 13th, giving the last-place Norfolk Tides a 6-4 win at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The loss in the opener of the Bulls’ final homestand of the season left them with a 4 ½-game lead over the second-place Gwinnett Braves in the International League’s South Division. Durham’s “magic number” remained at nine.
“Somebody out of the bullpen has got to take the bull by the horns,” Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo said. “(Rob) Delaney and (Dane) De La Rosa have been very good, but the other guys need to stay more consistent because we’re going to need them. It was a tough loss.”
Moore had another solid start, going six innings shutout innings and allowing six hits while striking out six against one walk.
But the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead with Joe Bateman (1-3) – the sixth of seven Durham pitchers on the night – taking the loss. Cole McCurry (4-2) was the winner for Norfolk while Mark Worrell picked up his 18th save.
“I got decent results,” Moore said. “At the end of the night the line looked OK. But I was a little shaky the first 3-4 innings. I realized after I got ahead they were completely different at-bats than the when I was getting behind. But I gave up some hard-hit balls and the defense made plays behind me.”
The Bulls took a 4-0 lead through five innings off starter Chris Tillman. Brandon Guyer led off the third by launching the first pitch over the Blue Monster wall in left, and then with two out Matt Carson launched a 3-1 offering over the Monster.
Then in the fifth, Tim Beckham lifted the first pitch off the pitch speed indicator sign behind left center. And with two out Dan Johnson ripped a 3-2 offering into the Diamond View seats in right.
But that was all the Durham scoring.
“I wanted to see a pitch out over the plate I could handle,” said Beckham, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft. “He had been beating me on fastballs all day. So I wanted to get the barrel on one and see what I could do with it.”
Norfolk cut the margin to 4-2 in the seventh as Harris greeted Jay Buente with a single followed by a homer into the Diamond View bleachers from former Bull Rhyne Hughes.
Then with two out in the eighth against Adam Russell, Hughes walked followed by John Hester’s two-run shot over the Blue Monster.
The series finale is Wednesday at 7:05, with southpaw Alex Torres (9-6, 3.05) taking on Norfolk’s Mitch Atkins (2-5, 5.01).
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