Herald-Sun correspondent
DURHAM -- Before the sixth inning of Wednesday night's sloppy Governor's Cup opener against the Louisville Bats, the Durham Bulls had scored three runs (two earned) on four hits.
In the sixth frame, Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo watched his club rack up five hits -- four in consecutive at-bats -- and five runs to break the tie on the way to an 8-4 victory in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Bats never fully recovered, and the Bulls lead the best-of-five series heading into Game 2 tonight (7:05 p.m.).
The last at-bat -- closer Winston Abreu's second strikeout -- kept Bats slugger Juan Francisco out of the batter's box. Francisco, who already had two home runs, would have represented the tying run if second baseman Todd Frazier reached safely.
"It seems like every game we play against them ... is always close either way," Montoyo said. "Somebody comes back on the other team; it always goes like that.
"That big strikeout at the end was huge, because everybody was thinking the same thing. 'If that guy gets on, Francisco's coming to the plate.' "
The four straight sixth-inning hits each came with runners in scoring position and two outs, a situation that hasn't often gone the Bulls' way this season.
"Everything small you can do in the game, try to do it," Bulls third baseman Ray Olmedo said. "Especially in that moment, you need to have the runs for a win."
Olmedo finished the game scoring two runs on three hits in four at-bats.
With 13 hits, the Bulls didn't need much help from the Bats defense, but that's just what they got. Louisville committed four errors, one of which eventually accounted for a Desmond Jennings unearned run.
The Bulls, for the most part, were solid in the field, with one exception -- second baseman Sean Rodriguez had three errors. But he made up for it in the final inning, digging a ball out of the dirt to complete a fielder's choice.
"Rodriguez made three errors, but that play he made at the end was huge because that ball was in the dirt," Montoyo said. "That was a big play."
While Durham struggled to get runners around in the early innings against Louisville starter Travis Wood, the Bats made the most of each and every mistake by Durham starter Jeremy Hellickson.
But those mistakes were few and far between. Hellickson's final line read 5 2/3 innings, three runs on three hits with three walks and 12 strikeouts.
Through four innings, starting Hellickson already had sent 10 Louisville batters back to the dugout on strikes while walking two and giving up just three hits.
Two of those hits, however, were home runs. And with Bats lefty Travis Wood working on a shutout, Louisville led 3-0 after four.
"The [pitch] to [Juan] Francisco wasn't a good pitch at all -- just a fastball right down the middle," Hellickson said of the first home run he yielded. "He stayed inside of it. He's strong, so it doesn't take much for him to hit it that far."
After Hellickson shut out the Bats in the fifth, his teammates took advantage of a couple of Wood mistakes in the bottom of the frame to even up the score at three apiece, setting the stage for the monstrous sixth.
NOTES -- On the other side of the International League bracket, North Division Champions Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Yankees took Game 1 against the host Gwinnett Braves 3-0. ... The Bulls send Mitch Talbot to the mound tonight with a four-inning/60-pitch limit for Game 2 in what could be the final Bulls game at the DBAP of 2009, as the series shifts to Louisville on Friday for Games 3, 4 and 5 if necessary. ... Attendence for the game was announced at 1,809.
