Tides top Bulls 6-4 on opening night

Bulls catcher Rene Pinto clubbed three hits, including a home run, while second baseman Osleivis Basabe tallied two knocks in his Triple-A debut, however Tides second baseman Connor Norby crushed a three-run blast in Norfolk’s 6-4 win over Durham on Friday evening in front of a paid attendance of 8,733 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Pinto got the Bulls on the board in the opening frame with his two-run blast to right, however Norfolk countered with a three-spot in the second. Durham evened the contest when Basabe slashed an RBI single to left, yet the Tides would strike again in the subsequent inning with another trio of tallies to go ahead 6-3. DH Jonathan Aranda would narrow the margin to two courtesy of an RBI double down the right field line in the sixth, however the Bulls were not able to further erase the deficit.

Pinto (3-5, R, HR, 2 RBI) led all batters with his three hits, along with Basabe’s (2-4, RBI) multi-hit effort. Aranda also reached base three times with two walks in addition to his run-scoring two-bagger.

Neither team’s starting pitcher, Durham’s Taj Bradley (2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO), nor Norfolk’s Grayson Rodriguez (4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO) factored in the final decisions. Tides righty Kyle Dowdy (2.0 IP, 3 H, R, ER, BB, 3 SO) earned the win and Joey Krehbiel (1.0 IP, BB, SO) notched the save, while Bulls reliever Trevor Brigden (1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) suffered the defeat.

Durham and Norfolk are set to continue their three-game set on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05pm ET. RHP Cooper Criswell is anticipated to get the nod for the Bulls and be opposed by LHP Bruce Zimmermann.