D-Braves defeat Bristol, 8-2, behind solid outing from Matt Crim

The bullpen got a break when Danville starter Matt Crim was able to go seven innings in the Braves’ 8-2 victory against the Bristol White Sox on Saturday night at Dan Daniel Park.

Danville has heavily relied on its bullpen the last several days — and the relief pitchers, who entered the game with an outstanding 2.95 cumulative ERA, have not disappointed.

“They’ve done a great job,” D-Braves manager Paul Runge said. “We’ve got plenty of guys down there to go to.”

The D-Braves bullpen pitched two scoreless innings to sew up the victory Saturday, yet another solid performance, albeit a shorter one, considering the unit had tossed 14 innings in the previous two contests.

The pen held Elizabethton scoreless over the final five innings and hurled six innings in all to secure the victory Friday. Julio Surinach entered a one-run contest and pitched four scoreless innings in relief while striking out five batters to earn his second save of the year.

That performance came a day after the bullpen tossed eight scoreless innings in Danville’s 4-3 victory in 13 innings against Elizabethton on Thursday. Jeffrey Lorick earned the victory in that game by pitching a scoreless 13th after Cory Rasmus hurled five innings of scoreless, one-hit ball in relief and Thomas Berryhill allowed just one hit in two innings of work.

Cody Railsback and Dennis Accomando each tossed a scoreless inning in relief Saturday.

Danville’s bullpen owns a combined record of 11-4 and has racked up 10 saves. The relievers have combined for 109 strikeouts to 44 walks while chewing up 105 2/3 innings this season.

“Our starters have been doing such a good job that our ability of the guys in the bullpen, we’ve had no problem there whatsoever,” Runge said, dismissing any concern about the bullpen tiring. “It’s almost at a situation now that where our starters are giving us such quality innings that we only need to go to one or two guys in the bullpen right now. Some of our guys on the back end are giving us two, three, four innings, so we’re in good shape in that department.”

D-Braves cruise

Danville took a two-run lead in the first inning and cruised to an 8-2 victory against the Bristol White Sox on Saturday night at Dan Daniel Park.

Cory Harrilchack went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs, and Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg added three base hits and an RBI to pace Danville. L.V. Ware had a single, an RBI and scored twice.

Danville took a 4-0 lead with two runs in the first and third before Bristol halved its deficit with a pair of runs in the fourth. The Sox were blanked over the final five innings and the D-Braves doubled their total with another two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.

Former Brave blasted

Santos Rodriguez pitched the seventh inning and allowed two runs on two hits for Bristol. He struck out one, walked one and hurled a pair of wild pitches. The lefty played two seasons with the Gulf Coast League Braves from 2007-08 before being traded to the White Sox as part of the deal for veteran starting pitcher Javier Vazquez.

Rodriguez, Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers and Jon Gilmore were sent to the Sox for Vazquez and Boone Logan in December.

Sox fail to capitalize

Matt Crim set a Braves season high for a starting pitcher by allowing nine hits in his seven innings of work Saturday. He limited the White Sox to only two runs in that span, however, and picked up the victory by striking out four and walking none.

Offense opens up

The eight runs scored by Danville were the most by the D-Braves at home this season. Danville scored a high of five runs at Dan Daniel Park on four occasions. The D-Braves scored a season high of 23 runs at Pulaski on July 7.

On tap

Danville LHP Luis Avilan (0-2, 4.41 ERA) faces Bristol LHP Joseph Serafin (4-0, 0.39 ERA) at 4 p.m. today at Dan Daniel Park.

- Contact Wolf at or (434) 791-7996.

Bristol 000 200 000 - 2 9 2
Danville 202 000 22x - 8 9 0
W: Crim (4-0, 3.75); L: Simmons (0-3, 11.25)
HR: None.