Balanced offense leads Chiefs to 11-5 victory over RailRiders

The Syracuse Chiefs trounced the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 11-5, on Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium. Eight of nine Chiefs batters collected a hit in the win. All nine of the Chiefs either scored or drove in a run. 

Syracuse (11-18) got the scoring going right away in the bottom of the first inning versus Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (16-15) starter Bryan Mitchell. Center fielder Rafael Bautista led off the inning by reaching on a fielding error from RailRiders third baseman Ruben Tejada. Bautista moved over to second after an Andrew Stevenson strikeout and a Matt Skole single to center field. Two batters later, Robinson hit a sharp ground ball to third base for a single, plating Bautista and moving Skole over to third. On the next play,Pedro Severino hit an RBI single off the glove of second baseman Rob Refsnyder. Right fielder Clint Frazier made matters worse when he attempted to throw out Robinson at third base. His throw skipped behind Tejada for an error and Robinson scurried home, making the score 3-0 Chiefs.
The RailRiders responded in the top of the third off Chiefs starter Kyle McGowin. With two outs, shortstop Tyler Wade singled to center field. During the next at-bat, Wade stole second base and then scored on a triple down the right-field line from center fielder Dustin Fowler. The triple was the league-leading sixth for Fowler.
The Chiefs broke the game open in the bottom half of the third. After Stevenson struck out to begin the inning, Skole doubled into the right-center-field gap. Following a Brandon Snyder walk, the RailRiders turned to reliever Jason Gurka. In the next at-bat Robinson singled to center to load the bases. Severino followed up the hit from Robinson with a single of his own, plating Skole and Snyder. RailRiders catcher Kyle Higashioka then tried to throw out Robinson at third, but the throw was errant and Robinson scampered home as Severino pulled into second base. After a passed ball moved Severino over to third, Caleb Ramsey singled into center, scoring Severino and extending the Chiefs' lead to 7-1.
Syracuse continued to pour it on in the fourth. With one out, Stevenson singled to center field. He then advanced to third base on a single from Skole. On the next play, Snyder hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Stevenson. Robinson followed up the sacrifice fly with a double off the right-center-field wall, plating Skole and increasing the Chiefs' lead to 9-1. 
The Chiefs then hit double-digit scoring in the fifth inning off of Joe Mantiply. After a Ramsey fly out, Adrian Sanchez reached on a throwing error from Tejada, his second of the night. Sanchez then scored on a double to right-center field from Irving Falu. Falu scored on the next play when Bautista hit a bloop single into right field and put the Chiefs up 11-1.
The RailRiders attempted to mount a comeback against Rafael Martín in the top of the ninth. Refsnyder led off the inning with a single into right field. Mason Williams then slapped a double to right, advancing Refsnyder to third base in the process. A Higashioka single plated both Refsnyder and Williams cutting the Chiefs' lead to eight. After Tejada and Cito Culver were retired, Tyler Wade doubled off the right-field wall and advanced Higashioka to third. Both RailRiders then scored on a double off the right-center-field fence from Fowler, making the score 11-5. Martin then settled in and struck out Frazier to end the game. 
The Chiefs and RailRiders meet again on Friday night in the second of a four-game series at 6:35 at NBT Bank Stadium. Joe Ross will take the mound for the Chiefs opposite right-hander Luis Cessa for the RailRiders.