Bulls rally past Jumbo Shrimp behind Sabol's go-ahead homer, 9-7

The Bulls did not waste any time turning their two-week homestand into a pressure test, and they passed the first one with power, response and just enough late nerve to beat Jacksonville 9-7 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Durham was 9-18 when it took the field Tuesday night, still digging out of an ugly start, and the opener of a six-game set against the Jumbo Shrimp felt bigger than one April win. The Bulls answered like a club trying to change the shape of its season. Carson Williams launched a two-run homer in the first, Raynel Delgado added a solo shot in the third, and Durham built a 3-1 lead before Jacksonville even had a chance to settle in.

Then came the wobble. Jacksonville struck for four runs in the fourth against Aaron Brooks, the right-hander’s first game in the Tampa Bay organization after being assigned to Durham that same day. Brooks had made one appearance in the Mexican League for Durango before joining the Rays system, and the fourth inning showed the adjustment that still comes with a fresh arrival. Durham could have let that frame tilt the game. Instead, it answered immediately.

The Bulls tied it in the fifth on a passed ball that scored Gavin Lux, who was on a rehab assignment that began April 2, and Delgado followed with a single that brought home Williams for a 5-5 tie. Blake Sabol then delivered the swing that put Durham back in front for good, a go-ahead homer in the sixth that gave the home club a lead it kept extending.

Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled to left in the seventh, and Durham added two more in the eighth on Delgado’s sacrifice fly and Dom Keegan’s groundout. That cushion mattered, because Jacksonville made the ninth uncomfortable, loading the bases with nobody out on two walks and an infield single. Andrew Wantz and the defense held the line from there, and KC Hunt earned the win after 2 1/3 hitless innings in relief.

Williams reached base four times and continued to look like the most dangerous bat in the lineup, while Lux scored three runs in a productive rehab outing. The Bulls finished with 9,118 in the park and a win that said more than the standings did. A club that entered the night below .500 did not just hit its way past Jacksonville. It showed a formula it can carry through the rest of the homestand: punch early, answer every counter and survive the late push.