Bulls Drop Iron Pigs, 9-3

Allentown, PA --- In a fourth inning flash, the Durham Bulls scored five times to open up a 7-0 lead and coasted past the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs for their third straight victory, 9-3 on Wednesday night.

Leading 2-0 in the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs, Taylor Motter doubled in two, Alexi Casilla singled home a pair and Mikie Mahtook drove in another as the Bulls (12-9) pounced on the Iron Pigs (5-16).

Andrew Bellatti (W, 1-0) notched his first Triple-A win, working five innings on five hits. Bellatti was nicked for two runs in his final frame on the mound. Jordan Norberto, Jose Dominguez and Andy Oliver combined for the final four innings.

JP Arencibia and Leonardo Reginatto each singled home a run in the second inning against Iron Pigs starter Joely Rodriguez. Rodriguez was chased after permitting 10 hits and seven runs in just four innings.

Joey Butler knocked in his team-leading 15th run with a seventh inning single, while Hak-Ju Lee drove an RBI-double in the eighth to complete the scoring for Durham. Motter finished with three hits, with Mahtook, Arencibia and Reginatto each chipping in with two.

The Bulls picked up 13 hits, their second most in any game this season. With the victory, the Bulls moved ahead of Norfolk into second place in the South, continuing to stalk division-leading Charlotte by one game.

Durham will shoot for the four-game sweep over Lehigh Valley on Thursday morning at 10:35 AM ET with Dylan Floro (2-1, 4.01) opposing Chad Billingsley (0-1, 6.75).