Heasley sparks Bulls, Durham shuts out Sounds in rain-shortened win

Sixty-two pitches were enough for Jon Heasley to take control of the night, and Durham turned that efficiency into a 6-0 rain-shortened win over Nashville at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Heasley worked 4 1/3 shutout innings, allowed five hits, struck out three and did not issue a walk, giving the Bulls exactly the kind of starter’s outing that lets a bullpen stay fresh when weather and schedule are both pressing.

The game, played May 21 at the DBAP in Durham, North Carolina, was halted after a 30-minute delay and called after 4 1/2 innings as steady rain intensified in the fourth. By then, Durham had already built enough separation to make the final inning matter less than the efficiency that created it. Heasley earned the win and improved to 3-2, a useful rebound for the 29-year-old Charlotte native, who entered the night 2-2 with a 4.76 ERA in six appearances for Durham and had struck out 15 batters in 22.2 innings this season.

Durham scored in three different innings and never let Nashville settle in. Tony Santa Maria doubled down the left-field line in the second inning to bring home Justyn-Henry Malloy for the first run. Then the third inning opened the game wide: Raynel Delgado delivered a two-run single, Tatem Levins followed with a double, and the Bulls were suddenly in command at 5-0. Brock Jones added the sixth run in the fourth on a fielder’s-choice grounder that scored Blake Sabol just ahead of the throw.

The shutout was Durham’s first of the 2026 season and came at the end of a night that also showcased the club’s speed. The Bulls stole four bases and pushed their season total to 104, the best mark in Triple-A at the time, another sign that the offense can pressure pitchers even without a barrage of extra-base damage.

Nashville, which arrived on a nine-game winning streak, saw that run end with only its second shutout loss through 48 games. Quinn Priester, working on a rehab assignment for Milwaukee, took the loss after giving up the opening run and then watching Durham break the game open behind a mix of singles, doubles and walks. Greg Jones, the former Durham outfielder now in left field for Nashville, made two outfield assists at the plate, but the Sounds never recovered from the early deficit.

The result left Durham at 20-28 and Nashville at 28-20, a snapshot of a team that needed one clean, compressed night and got it. For a Bulls club long accustomed to shaping the International League race, this was the sort of efficient win that can settle a series and save arms for the next few games.