The Bulls could have blown this one wide open (or, well, opener, since they already led 5-0 late) but left the bases loaded in the seventh when Matt Joyce grounded out. He can be forgiven for that, since he'd hit a grand slam in the first, but still. In the next inning, the Bulls put men on second and third with one out but Desmond Jennings grounded out, failing to score a run, and Reid Brignac, who went 0-5, struck out. The Bulls needed a passed ball to score what would become an important run psychologically, as it kept the Chiefs from taking the lead in the bottom of the inning when they put up a three-spot.
Jennings had a schizy game, driving in the Bulls' fifth run early, but also twice failing to score runners from third with one out. Overall, the Bulls were 3/13 with RISP. That's a familiar theme, no?
Not sure what to tell you about Jason Childers. In Durham last week, he'd mentioned a mechanical problem with his delivery, and the result was that he couldn't throw his fastball for strikes. We'll see if he fixes the problem. If he doesn't, the Bulls' most frequent fireman (Childers leads the team in appearances) will have gone up the pole, and Charlie Montoyo will have no choice but to start using Calvin Medlock in higher-leverage situations. Childers has allowed runs to score in seven of his last eight outings, and his ERA has gone from 3.86 to 4.58.
It's potluck night for the Bulls tonight in Norfolk. Jeff Bennett gets his second start for Durham, and should be able to go a bit longer than he did at the DBAP, when he was restricted to less than 70 pitches. After Bennett, look for some combination of Medlock, Julio DePaula and a team of telephone sanitizers. If the Bulls can win, say two of three at Norfolk, they'll pretty much wash the Tides out of contention and tighten their grip on a post-season berth.