Bauers comes up big in Bulls clincher

Rays No. 2 prospect Willy Adames handed the Bulls an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the first. Patrick Leonard padded the early lead with a two-run jack two batters later. It was the 11th longball of the season for the 24-year-old third baseman.
Adames has made 118 appearances for Durham this year. At just 21, the shortstop handled himself with aplomb at Triple-A and has produced a .273/.363/.414 slash line with nine homers and 54 RBIs. After Gwinnett pulled one back in the third, Jake Bauers restored the Bulls' three-run cushion with a solo homer in the bottom-half.
The G-Braves made things interesting with a three runs in the eighth inning, but Bauers had another answer. The 21-year-old ripped a double to left and then came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Shane Peterson to put Durham three outs away from their first division crown since 2014. 
Bauers, who is ranked as the No. 81 overall prospect by MLB.com, sports a .268/.371/.419 slash line with 13 homers and 60 RBIs in 119 games this year. 
Durham leads the International League with a 3.38 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Their staff received a big boost when Rays No. 1 prospect Brent Honeywell joined the rotation on April 19 after making two starts with Double-A Montgomery. Since then, the 22-year-old right-hander has gone 11-7 with a 3.66 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 22 starts. Honeywell ranks third in the Minors with 167 strikeouts and has fanned 30 percent of the batters he's faced at Triple-A. 
While Honeywell has received plenty of praise for his performance this year, the Bulls also benefitted from a breakout campaign from Yonny Chirinos. The 23-year-old Venezuelan sports a 2.98 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with 113 strikeouts in 130 innings for Durham this year. 
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