Cole, Skole lead Chiefs past Bisons

Buffalo, NY (July 28, 2016) - The Syracuse Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bisons, 5-3, Thursday night in the first of a stretch of eight straight games between the two teams. A.J. Cole allowed just one earned run in seven innings and Matt Skole hit his 14th home run of the year for Syracuse to snap a three-game losing streak.

Syracuse (48-57) scored first for a fifth game in a row. With Brian Goodwin on first and two outs, Skole hit a long home run over the right-center-field fence off Drew Hutchison for a 2-0 Chiefs lead. From there, Matt den Dekker singled and Jhonatan Solano doubled home den Dekker for a 3-0 advantage.

The Chiefs added two more runs in the seventh. Jason Martinson doubled off Chad Girodo with one out and scored on Zach Collier's single for a 4-0 lead. Bostick then hit a ground ball to short. Andy Burns flipped to second to get the first out, but Ryan Goins threw high to first, allowing Bostick to reach second on an error. Goodwin took advantage with a single to score the run and make the score 5-0. 

Buffalo (52-54) finally got on the board against Cole in the bottom of the seventh. Chris Colabello and Jesus Montero each singled to start the inning, and Domonic Brown doubled home Colabello to make the score 5-1. After two pop outs, Cole walked A.J. Jimenez to load the bases. Dalton Pompey followed with a ground ball to second, but an error on Bostick allowed Montero to score and get the Bisons within three.

Colabello added another run for the Bisons in the eighth with a home run off Koda Glover. But Buffalo would get no closer, dropping its ninth straight game.

Syracuse and Buffalo return to Coca-Cola Field Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Paolo Espino is scheduled to start for the Chiefs opposite Scott Copeland for the Bisons.