Durham storms back from eight down, pounds Norfolk 19-9

An eight-run hole disappeared in a blur of extra-base damage and relentless contact, as Durham turned a 9-1 deficit into a 19-9 rout of Norfolk at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Friday night.

The Bulls were buried when the fourth inning began, but they answered with five runs in that frame, then stacked five more in the fifth to seize control. Durham did not stop there. It scored three in the sixth, two in the seventh and three in the eighth, running off the final 18 runs of the game and finishing with 20 hits and five home runs.

Carson Williams drove the turnaround from the middle of the order, going 3-for-5 with five RBIs. Justyn-Henry Malloy matched a career high with two homers and also finished with three hits, while Logan Davidson led the club with four hits and joined the home-run parade. Dom Keegan and Brock Jones also left the yard, giving Durham five long balls from five different bats and showing exactly why this lineup can keep punching even after the first wave gets cooled off.

The comeback had an early spark from Chandler Simpson, who reached base right away, stole a bag and helped Durham build a 3-0 lead before Norfolk’s offense briefly exploded. Once the Bulls found their footing, the at-bats kept turning over and the damage kept coming. Davidson and Malloy went back-to-back in the seventh, the kind of sequence that turns a rally into a statement and leaves the opposing dugout staring at a scoreboard that keeps moving the wrong way.

Jonny Cuevas picked up his first win of the season after the game swung fully into Durham’s hands, while Chase Solesky took the brunt of the relief damage for Norfolk, allowing five runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. Levi Wells carried the 9-1 lead into the fourth for the Tides, but Durham quickly erased the cushion and never let Norfolk breathe again.

The result tied the series 2-2 and gave Durham its most explosive offensive night since a 28-10 win at Lehigh Valley on April 9, 2024. The night also carried a larger organizational note: former Bull Andrew Kittredge resumed his major-league rehab assignment with the eighth inning, and Jared Sandberg was in attendance, reconnecting a pitcher-manager pairing that once helped launch Kittredge to the majors in 2017. For Durham, the message was louder than the final score. This is not a one-man lineup or a one-inning team. It is a roster deep enough to bury an opponent after trailing by eight.