Syracuse Holds Off Gwinnett, 4-3
SYRACUSE, NY - The Syracuse Chiefs (46-50) took a 4-1 lead to the ninth inning and held off the Gwinnett Braves (41-56) for a 4-3 win Tuesday night in game two of the three-game series at NBT Bank Stadium.
With the loss, the G-Braves have now dropped a season-high eight games in a row.
In the top of the first, singles by Emilio Bonifacio, Omar Infante and Hector Olivera loaded the bases with nobody out against Syracuse starter Lucas Giolito, the No. 1 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball according to MLB.com, but the Chiefs' right-hander retired the next three batters in a row to exit without giving up a run.
In the bottom of the first, Gwinnett starter Casey Kelly was not as fortunate as with one out Brian Goodwin hit a fly ball to left that Olivera misplayed into a double. Matt Skole then singled to left, scoring Goodwin for a 1-0 lead.
The Syracuse lead moved to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Jason Martinson, his fourth RBI of the series and the Chiefs made it 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Caleb Ramsey drove a Kelly pitch to left, scoring Adrian Sanchez from second.
Gwinnett finally tallied in the top of the seventh off Giolito. With two outs Blake Lalli singled to right, and moved to third on a pinch-hit double to right by Ronnie Mustelier. Bonifacio then hit a high bouncing ball to short, that Sanchez misplayed allowing Lalli to score, cutting the lead to 3-1.
But the Chiefs got that run right back in the bottom of the seventh as Sanchez led off with a single to left off reliever Stephen Janas that Olivera couldn't run down. Ramsey then collected his second RBI of the game with a single to left, scoring Sanchez for a 4-1 lead.
It became an important run as in the top of the ninth, against Syracuse closer Rafael Martin, Lalli poked a two-out single to left and George Kottaras crushed a pinch-hit, two-run homer to right to cut the lead to 4-3. However, Bonifacio popped out to short to end the game.
Kelly (L, 2-6) scattered nine hits and three runs over 6.0 innings, while striking out three and walking one. Janas allowed two hits and a run while striking out two over 1.0 inning and Jose Ramirez ran his scoreless streak to 12.2 innings with a perfect eighth inning of relief for the G-Braves.
Giolito (W, 1-0) picked up the win in his Triple-A debut, going 6.2 innings and allowing an unearned run on seven hits while striking out seven and walking two. Bryan Harper (H, 3) tossed 1.1 innings of relief with two strikeouts and Martin (S, 19) went yielded the two runs on two hits in earning his 19th save of the year.
Lalli went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Mustelier and Kottaras both earned extra-base hits in pinch-hitting opportunities to pace the Gwinnett offense.
For the Chiefs, Sanchez was 2-for-3 with two runs, while Ramsey, Goodwin and Skole were each 2-for-4.
The G-Braves and Chiefs play the final game of the three-game series Wednesday afternoon in Syracuse at 12:05 p.m. The G-Braves will send righty Chris Ellis (1-4, 8.34) to the mound against right-hander Taylor Hill (4-8, 4.46) for the Chiefs. Tony Schiavone will have the broadcast of the game beginning at 11:35 a.m. on 97.7 FM.
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The Gwinnett Braves are the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Follow the G-Braves at GwinnettBraves.com, facebook.com/GwinnettBraves1 and twitter.com/GwinnettBraves. Tickets are on sale now at the Coolray Field Ticket Office, call 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.