Charlotte, NC --- Brandon Snyder homered early, Brandon Lowe homered late to send Durham past Charlotte 6-3 on Thursday night at BB&T Ballpark.After scoring twice in the opening inning without a hit off of Knights starter Michael Kopech (L, 3-7), Snyder drilled a two-run homer in the third over the
Charlotte, NC --- Brandon Snyder homered early, Brandon Lowe homered late to send Durham past Charlotte 6-3 on Thursday night at BB&T Ballpark.
After scoring twice in the opening inning without a hit off of Knights starter Michael Kopech (L, 3-7), Snyder drilled a two-run homer in the third over the centerfield wall to lift the lead to 4-1. Lowe doubled to right to start the inning before Snyder nailed his team-leading 11th home run.
José Rondón hit a two-run shot against Andrew Moore (W, 3-3) in the bottom of the third to draw Charlotte (39-47) back to within a run 4-3. The Knights squandered opportunities to tie the game in the fifth and sixth. Facing the bases loaded with one out in the fifth, Moore induced a short flyball to right from Seby Zavala. After Justin Williams caught the flyball, former Bull Ryan Brett broke for home plate, then stopped halfway home. Roberto Peña handled Williams' throw, then trapped Brett in a rundown before he returned to third base. However, Jose Rondon was then trapped between second and third, drawing a throw before Brett again dashed for home. Andrew Velazquez threw to the plate to Ji-Man Choi, who ran Brett back to third base again before he was ultimately tagged out by Brandon Snyder.
In the sixth, reliever Jordan Harrison issued a pair of walks with one out, along with a wild pitch, putting runners at first and third. But Harrison fanned Casey Gillaspie and Brett to quell the threat.
In the ninth, Lowe smashed an opposite-field two-run homer to left-centerfield, his ninth home run in his last 60 at bats.
Ian Gibaut (S, 6) recorded his sixth save, working the final 1 1/3 innings.
Lowe finished 3-4 with a single, double, home run and two RBI.
The Bulls scored twice in the first inning thanks to four walks and a hit batter from the highly-touted Kopech, who threw 42 pitches in the first inning alone. Kopech was removed after three innings.
With the victory, Durham (50-35) upped its South Division lead to 5 1/2 and became the first International League team to 50 wins.
The Bulls close out their pre-All Star Game slate with a three-game homestand against second place Norfolk this weekend, with Forrest Snow (5-4, 3.67) opposing the Tides' Asher Wojciechowski (4-4, 4.13) at 7:05 PM ET Friday night.
