Herald-Sun Correspondent
DURHAM -- Durham Bulls fans can officially mark Wednesday's one-run performance as an aberration.
After scoring runs in six of eight innings Thursday night -- including every frame from the second to the fifth -- the Bulls made it to at least five runs for the sixth time in the last eight games, defeating the Charlotte Knights 10-2 and securing at least a series split.
"Wow," Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo said. "I've never been so relaxed in the ninth inning."
It wasn't even the top of the lineup, consisting of four players who have seen Major League at-bats this season, that did most of the damage. The five through nine hitters drove in and scored seven runs, the last two coming on a Jon Weber homer, his 13th of 2009 and his first with a borrowed bat from Akinori Iwamura.
"It felt good," Weber said. "It's been awhile since I've hit a home run ... I've been begging [Iwamura] to give me a 34 [ounce bat]. And he did. And that was the first time I used it, and I hit a home run with it."
Four of the Bulls' first five runs came via the stick of eight-hole hitter John Jaso, who is the only member outside of the top four that has been in the majors this year.
In his first two plate appearances, Jaso stepped into the batter's box with the bases loaded. In the second inning the Bulls catcher worked an RBI walk. One inning later, after the Knights had tied the score at 2-2, Jaso scored Iwamura from third, Matt Joyce from second and Ray Olmedo from first with a double off the left-center field wall.
"The one thing about Jaso is we all know he's a better hitter than what he's done this year," Montoyo said. "That was good to see Jaso have a big game."
Jaso finished the game going 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run while throwing out the only Knights base runner to attempt a stolen base.
Of course, when the other team only has eight runners get on base, there won't be a lot of opportunities to steal bases. Starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson made sure that was the case for five strong innings.
The first-year Triple-A pitcher struck out 10 Knights and allowed just one earned run -- and an unearned one -- while surrendering just two walks. It did, however, take him 92 pitches.
"He pitched well," Montoyo said. "He ran his pitch count pretty high. We had [Joe] Bateman fresh, so it was a good time to bring Bateman in."
In picking up the 10 Ks, eight of them swinging, Hellickson was anything but picky, ringing up every Charlotte batter except for designated hitter Cole Armstrong. But reliever Winston Abreu took care of that in the last at-bat of the game, getting Armstrong swinging.
The bullpen picked up where Hellickson left off, as Bateman and Abreu combined to pitch four scoreless innings that included seven strikeouts.
"It's great," Hellickson said. "Knowing the bullpen we have here now, if you come out with a lead, you can pretty much chalk it up as a win."
Aside from two Olmedo errors that brought in a Knights run in the third, the Bulls' defense was strong throughout the game, specifically in fifth inning when centerfielder Fernando Perez chased down what seemed like a sure double by Wilson Betemit. After making the miraculous catch, Perez used his momentum to head into a celebratory side bump with the outfield wall.
"[I thought] that I wasn't gonna get it," Perez said. "But I ran ... you know ... caught it."
The Bulls and Knights conclude their four-game series tonight at 7:05 as starting pitcher Jeff Bennett makes his first appearance for Durham.
