Chiefs drop back-and-forth series opener

Syracuse, NY (5/22/2015) - The Syracuse Chiefs dropped game one of a three-game series to the Indianapolis Indians, 6-4, on Friday night. Chiefs starter Scott McGregor threw six and one-third innings, striking out five while only surrendering three runs. Shortstop Emmanuel Burriss connected for his second home run of the year in the loss.

After dropping its previous five games, Syracuse (16-25) scored first in the series opener against the Indians. Burriss led off the top of the third with a drag-bunt single. In the next at-bat, with the hit-and-run on, left fielder Tony Gwynn, Jr., lined a double down the right-field line that scored Burriss. The Chiefs led 1-0 at the end of three innings.

The Chiefs' lead held for another inning, but Indianapolis (24-18) got on the board in the top of the fifth. Indians center fielder Gorkys Hernandez hit a one-out double to put a runner in scoring position. Two batters later, with two outs, second baseman Alen Hanson put the Indians up 2-1 with a two-run home run over the right-field wall.

Indianapolis would continue to lead 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth. After center fielder Darin Mastroianni struck out swinging to lead off the inning, third baseman Ian Stewart hit his eighth double of the season to give the Chiefs a runner in scoring position with only one out. First baseman Mark Minicozzi then singled to right field, advancing Stewart to third. Following a Matt den Dekker walk, catcher Dan Butler stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and only one out. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, Butler hit a fly ball to center, deep enough for Stewart to tag from third and score, evening the game at two.

The tie would not hold for too long, however, as Indianapolis scored two more runs in the top of the seventh. Hernandez led off the inning with a single to right field. Indians pitcher Chris Volstad then laid down a sacrifice bunt, pushing Hernandez to second with one out. Chiefs reliever Rich Hill entered the game following the sacrifice bunt to replace McGregor and face Henson. On the second pitch from Hill, Henson doubled down the left-field line, driving in Hernandez. From second, Hanson stole third and then scored on a wild pitch from Hill, improving the Indians' lead to 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh.

The Chiefs tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh off the bat of Burriss. Reliever Deolis Guerra came in at the start of the inning to replace Volstead. Guerra retired pinch-hitter Josh Johnson to start off the inning. With a 1-1 count and one out, Burriss connected and drove his second home run of the season over the right-field wall, cutting the Indians' lead to 4-3 at the end of seven.

The runs continued in the top of the eight. Felipe Rivero came in at the start of the inning to replace Hill. Indians catcher Tony Sanchez led off the inning with a walk and moved to second after left fielder Jaff Decker hit a bunt single. Rivero then struck out Brent Morel before Hernandez hit into a fielder's choice, advancing Sanchez to third and putting Hernandez on first. Manny Delcarmen then entered the game to relieve Rivero to face pinch-hitter Elias Diaz. Diaz singled on a ball to right field, driving in Sanchez for the Indian's fifth run of the game, and giving the Indians' a 5-3 lead.

The Chiefs would not go down without a fight. In the bottom of the frame, Stewart walked off of new pitcher Josh Wall. Wall retired the next two batters before giving up a single to Butler, and letting Stewart advance to third after he stole second on a wild pitch. With Cutter Dykstra at the plate and a full count, Wall threw a wild pitch and Stewart easily scored from third, bringing the score to 5-4 in favor of Indianapolis.

The Indians tacked on another run in the top of the ninth off of Chiefs pitcher Jose Valverde. Third baseman Debinson Romero doubled with two outs and came around to score when Sanchez singled to center, making the final score 6-4.

The Chiefs and Indians play game two of the three game series Saturday night with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. The Chiefs will send right-hander Bruce Billings to the hill to face right-hander Adrian Sampson.