Jacksonville crushes Durham with four two-run homers, trims lead to one game

Jacksonville turned Durham’s early 2-0 lead into a 12-2 rout at VyStar Ballpark, using four home runs and a string of free baserunners to erase the Bulls’ momentum in a hurry.

Durham struck first when Tatem Levins bounced a single over first base, scoring Carson Williams and Jacob Melton for a 2-0 lead. Jacksonville answered immediately. Deyvison De Los Santos tied the game with an opposite-field homer, and Rece Hinds later stole home on a double-steal sequence to push the Jumbo Shrimp in front 3-2 before the inning settled.

The Jumbo Shrimp’s four long balls all came after a free baserunner reached, a sequence that put Durham on the back foot before each big swing. Matthew Etzel homered in the fifth, Kemp Alderman followed with another in the sixth, and Hinds delivered a two-run shot in the seventh to finish the barrage. Jacksonville also had the leadoff batter reach via a walk or hit-by-pitch in each of the final five innings.

Braxton Garrett benefited from the cushion as Durham managed only five hits. Jacob Melton accounted for two of them, while Carson Williams reached base three times. Logan Davidson even took the mound in the eighth after spending the first seven innings in left field, becoming the second position player to pitch for Durham this season after Bryan Broecker had done it five times in the first half.

The defeat snapped Durham’s four-game winning streak and trimmed its International League lead to one game over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The teams were tied 1-1 in the six-game series.