Meadows continues raking on three-hit day

At the end of April, Austin Meadows was a 21-year-old outfielder looking like he might be in a little over his head in the International League. Since turning 22 on May 3, he's looked more like MLB.com's No. 6 overall prospect.
The Pirates' top prospect collected three hits, including a pair of doubles, drove in a run and scored another on Sunday, carrying Triple-A Indianapolis in a 2-1 victory over Rochester at Frontier Field.

"You struggle in this game and it just makes the success that much more rewarding," said Meadows, who batted .195/.247/.256 in 21 games in April. "For me, it's great. I'm just going out there with a clear mind. To know that you're one step away, you don't think of that, but it's definitely pretty cool in that boat. I try to just be where I'm at here and take care of what I can here."
Gameday box score
Sunday was Meadows' fourth straight multi-hit game and sixth in his last eight, bumping his May slash line to .317/.378/.465. He credited his success, in part, to a refreshed mental approach.
"I'm just going up to the plate with a clear head and really not trying to think too much, just going up there and trying to be aggressive," he said. "I've been working in the cage and the swing has been the same. I'm really just going out there and being as aggressive as I can and put the barrel on some balls.
"Our hitting coach [Butch Wynegar], we talk about how everyone has the physical ability at this level, and the mental side of things is where it'll make or break you. For me, it's really learning to have an approach up there, know what I'm looking for and going up there being aggressive. Sometimes when you go through slumps or go through struggles, you always think there's something wrong with your swing, but there usually never is. It's usually all in your head."
Meadows' clear mind has been trouble for opposing pitchers. On Sunday, he got after Rochester starter David Hurlbut early, doubling to left field with one out in the first inning and scoring two batters later on Jason Rogers' single to right. Meadows had a 14-game run-scoring streak snapped in Saturday's 3-2, 12-inning loss.

"Facing a lefty with a little bit of tail on his fastball and a pretty decent curveball, for me it's just really trying to see that fastball elevated and try to eliminate the inner half, looking for the fastball middle-away," he said. "Fortunately, the first at-bat, I got down in a hole quick but fouled off some balls, saw some fastballs and curveballs, fouled them off. The last pitch was a fastball on the corner and I was just able to put it down the left field line and get a double out of that."

Meadows got another fastball to handle in his second at-bat. With Christopher Bostick at first in the third, he drove a double to center to plate Indianapolis' final run of the afternoon. The 2013 first-round pick singled leading off the sixth inning for his third knock. Since May 8, when he was a .194 hitter, Meadows is 22-for-80 with two homers, seven doubles, 12 RBIs and a .350/.402/.513 slash line.
Indianapolis' offense didn't have to do much because starter Nick Kingham (2-1) was dealing. Pittsburgh's seventh-ranked prospect took a no-hitter into the fifth and ended up allowing one run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and a walk. Dovydas Neverauskas and Dan Runzler pitched the final 2 2/3 frames, with Runzler earning his econd save.
"Nick today was really, really solid. With his live arm, he was spotting up balls and it was fun to watch. Neverauskus coming in, he's throwing 98 and that's always easy to hit," Meadows said with a laugh. "Then Runzler closed the door, and it's fun to watch Runzler work."