Louisville Downs Bulls In Rain-Shortened Contest, 9-6

Louisville, KY --- Josh Van Meter connected for a third inning grand slam to lift the Louisville Bats past the Durham Bulls Wednesday afternoon 9-6 at Louisville Slugger Field in a rain-shortened contest interrupted by two delays.
After the Bats (26-41) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, the Bulls (38-31) pushed across four runs in the third for a 4-2 lead. Michael Russell doubled with one out to ignite the inning. Andrew Velazquez collected one of his two hits with a soft single to right, moving Russell to third. Kean Wong, who went 2-for-3, singled to left to bring home the Bulls' first run. After Brandon Snyder was hit by a pitch to load the bases, a grounder by Justin Williams scored the tying run. Jason Coats then delivered a two-run double to give the Bulls a 4-2 advantage.
However, Yonny Chirinos (L, 0-2) could not hold the lead. Chirinos permitted five runs in the bottom of the third inning, capped by Van Meter's slam to right to send Louisville ahead 7-4 with one out in the third. Immediately after the grand slam, rains halted play for more than 45 minutes.
When the game resumed, the Bats scored single runs in the fourth and fifth against reliever Andrew Kittredge.
In the seventh, Snyder hit a two-run shot to right, closing the gap to 9-6. In the eighth, Brandon Lowe walked with one out, followed by a single from Adam Moore bringing Roberto Peña to the plate as the tying run. But during Pena's at-bat, the heavy rains returned, forcing the game's second delay. After another 45 minute delay, the game was called.
Chirinos worked just 2 1/3 innings, permitting seven hits and seven earned runs.
Velazquez, Wong and Adam Moore each collected two hits for the Bulls, while Williams was 1-4 with an RBI, but was ejected in the seventh after taking a called third strike.
Durham's South Division lead remains at 1 1/2 games over second place Norfolk, which also lost on Wednesday afternoon.
The season series concludes on Thursday night at 7:00 PM ET with Forrest Snow expected to make the start for the Bulls against Louisville RH José López.