The Syracuse Chiefs fell to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. The IronPigs came back to score two runs in the ninth and one in the tenth to win their second straight game. A.J. Cole allowed just one unearned run on five hits in
The Syracuse Chiefs fell to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. The IronPigs came back to score two runs in the ninth and one in the tenth to win their second straight game. A.J. Cole allowed just one unearned run on five hits in five and two-thirds innings of work despite the loss.
Syracuse (13-25) opened up the scoring in the bottom of the third inning. Right fielder Caleb Ramsey led off the inning with an infield single to shortstop. Two batters later, the starting pitcher Cole laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Ramsey to second. In the next at-bat, Rafael Bautista hit a pop fly on the infield, but second baseman Pedro Florimon lost the ball in the sun as it landed at his feet. Ramsey hustled around from second to score the first run of the game and put the Chiefs up 1-0.
Lehigh Valley (28-14) responded in the next half-inning. Taylor Featherston led off the inning with a walk. After Cole retired the next two batters, opposing pitcher Thomas Eshelman singled and advanced Featherston to second in the process. A Roman Quinn walk then loaded the bases for J.P. Crawford. The Phillies' top prospect per Baseball America hit a soft ground ball to the right side of the infield. The first baseman Clint Robinson flipped it over to Cole who was covering the first-base bag, but his foot missed the base. The fielding error allowed Featherston to score and tie the game at one.
The Chiefs took back the lead in the fifth inning. Andrew Stevenson led off the frame with an bunt single, but advanced to second on an errant throw from the third baseman Featherston. A groundout from Ramsey then moved Stevenson to third. On the next play, Irving Falu drilled a line-drive single into right field, plating Stevenson and putting the Chiefs on top, 2-1.
Shortstop Adrían Sanchez extended the Chiefs' lead with one swing of the bat in the sixth inning. The 26-year-old drilled a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence for his third home run of the season and doubled the Syracuse lead to 3-1.
The IronPigs tied the game in the top of the ninth inning. Pedro Florimon led off the inning with a single off Chiefs reliever Rafael Martín. After pinch-hitter Hector Gomez flied out to center field, Quinn bunted toward Martin. The pitcher threw over the head of Robinson at first, allowing Florimon to advance to third and Quinn to move to second on the error. In the next at-bat, Crawford hit a sinking line drive that got down for a base hit in center field. A strong throw from Bautista nearly nabbed Florimon at the plate, but the Dominican infielder slid in just under the tag from Jhonatan Solano. On the next play, Cameron Perkins singled into center field, allowing Quinn to score and tying the game at three.
The Chiefs could not score in the bottom half of the inning and the game went to extra innings for the second straight day, where the top of the tenth proved decisive. The IronPigs took their first and last lead of the afternoon when Nick Williams hit a lead-off home run over the right-field fence off Cody Satterwhite, putting Lehigh Valley up 4-3.
The Chiefs rallied against IronPigs closer Pedro Beato in the bottom of the tenth inning. Grant Green doubled with one out and Sanchez reached base on a hit-by-pitch after a Bautista groundout. However, Beato struck out Brandon Snyder to seal the win for Lehigh Valley.
The Chiefs and IronPigs square off in the third of a three-game series at 1:05 p.m. Sunday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. Kyle McGowin is scheduled to take the mound for Syracuse opposite right-hander Ben Lively for Lehigh Valley.
