Durham Wins Second Straight Division Crown as Meadows Crushes Three Home Runs
The Durham Bulls claimed their second straight International League South Division title with a 9-4 win over the Charlotte Knights Wednesday at BB&T Ballpark, as Austin Meadows crushed three homers in the victory.
The Bulls (75-58) earned the team’s 14th division title in 21 seasons since joining the I.L. in 1998, and the franchise’s ninth crown in the last 12 seasons. With the victory Durham will face the West Division champion in the First Round of the Governors’ Cup playoffs beginning September 5.
Meadows starred in the victory, becoming the first Bulls player since 2015 to tally three homers in one game. The outfielder blasted a solo shot in the first, a two-run homer in the fifth, and solo blast in the seventh. Acquired in the trade deadline deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Chris Archer, Meadows finished the night 4-for-4 with five RBI.
Other than Meadows, Adam Moore hit a two-run homer in a three-run third inning and finished 3-for-4 with two RBI.
On the mound, Ryan Weber (9-6) picked up the victory by tossing 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on six hits. Jordan Stephens (3-6) suffered the loss for the home side, allowing six runs on six hits in 4.2 frames.
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The Bulls and Knights wrap their three-game set Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at BB&T Ballpark. RHP Austin Pruitt (3-0, 2.60) is scheduled to take the mound for Durham opposite RHP Asher Wojciechowski (5-9, 4.53) for Charlotte.
Thanks to DBBC’s Matt Sutor for this capcom story & graphic.