Chiefs outlast Mud Hens 6-4

Syracuse, NY (June 25th, 2016) - The Syracuse Chiefs scored early and often on the way to a 6-4 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens on Saturday night. Paolo Espino became the first Chiefs starter to throw eight innings this season, while Trea Turner paced the offense with three hits and two runs scored.

Syracuse (35-39) tallied the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning. Turner opened the frame with a single. He reached second on a fly out, and was there with two outs. Then, Thad Weber struck out Matt Skole, but on the wild pitch Skole reached first and Turner moved to third to extend the inning. Jhonatan Solano followed with a single right field to score Turner for a 1-0 Syracuse lead.

The Chiefs scored again in the second. Caleb Ramsey doubled down the left-field line with one out. Two batters later, Steve Lombardozzi singled home Ramsey to give the Chiefs a 2-0 advantage.

Syracuse continued the scoring in the fifth. Turner and Lombardozzi each singled to start the frame. Then Brian Goodwin singled home Turner for a 3-0 lead. Lombardozzi moved to third on the hit and came home two batters later on Solano's RBI groundout.

Syracuse tacked on another run in the sixth inning. Tony Campana walked with two outs against reliever Drake Britton. Campana stole second and scored on Turner's second hit of the night.

Toledo (32-42) finally cracked Espino in the eighth. Matt den Dekker lost a ball in the lights in right field, allowing John Hicks to reach second. Hicks moved to third on Dean Green's groundout, and then scored on Argenis Diaz's groundout to cut the lead to 5-1.

That was the only run Espino would allow in his outstanding outing. The starter worked eight innings while scattering just four hits in eight innings. He did not walk a batter while striking out six, facing just four Mud Hens batters over the minimum.

The Chiefs offense added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jason Martinson walked, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and then scored on a Campana groundout.

Nick Masset replaced Espino and struck out Anthony Gose to start the ninth. From there, the Mud Hens tallied three runs on doubles from Casey McGehee, JaCoby Jones and Hicks over the next five batters. But at 6-4, Masset struck out Green to end the game.

The Chiefs and Mud Hens are back at it Sunday afternoon for the rubber game of this three-game series. Syracuse has scheduled A.J. Cole for the start opposite Buck Farmer for Toledo. First pitch is slated for 1:05 from NBT Bank Stadium.