RailRiders defeat Chiefs, 10-4

Syracuse, NY (August 24th, 2016) - The Syracuse Chiefs fell to the visiting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Wednesday night, 10-4. The Chiefs held a 4-1 lead after five innings, but couldn't withstand an offensive surge from the RailRiders that saw 12 hits from the sixth inning on. Caleb Ramsey had two hits and drove in a run for Syracuse.

Syracuse (58-73) got on the board in the first inning off RailRiders starter Luis Severino. Ramsey and Brian Goodwin opened the game for the Chiefs with back-to-back singles. Matt Skole later earned a walk to load the bases before Pedro Severino came to bat. Severino plated Ramsey with a sacrifice fly, the catcher's fourth RBI in his last five plate appearances.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (82-59) responded in the next frame against Taylor Hill. Jake Cave had the innings' biggest hit, lining a one-out double to the left-center alley. Pete Kozma followed with a single, putting RailRiders on first and third. Cito Culver was next up, and scored Cave with a sacrifice fly to right, knotting the game at 1-1.

The Chiefs used a big fifth inning to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Jason Martinson and Zach Collier opened the frame with back-to-back doubles, with Martinson coming around to score to take a 2-1 lead. Collier then advanced to third on a groundout by Christopher Bostick. With the RailRider infield on the grass, Ramsey blooped in a jam-shot single to shallow left to plate Collier for a 3-1 advantage. Syracuse, which entered the fifth with two hits off Severino, got its fourth hit of the inning when Neftali Solo singled to right field. That advanced Ramsey to second. Ramsey came around to score on the next play, when Matt Skole reached on an infield single that was hit to Culver at first. Severino dropped the throw to first base for an error, which allowed Ramsey to come home and give the Chiefs a 4-1 lead.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre wasted no time in regaining the lead in the sixth. A single from Ben Gamel and walk to Clint Frazier put RailRiders on first and second with one down. Cave then singled home Gamel and advanced Frazier to third. On the throw, Cave took second. Syracuse manager Billy Gardner Jr. then replaced Hill for reliever Justin DeFratus. Hill went five and one-third innings, allowing four earned runs and two walks while striking out three. Kozma faced DeFratus first, plating Frazier with a sacrifice fly to cut the Chiefs' lead to just 4-3. Culver then drove in another run, scoring Cave with a double to right field. Culver himself then came around to score on a single from the ensuing batter Mason Williams. That gave the RailRiders the lead, 5-4. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tacked on another run on consecutive singles from Donovan Solano and Rob Refsnyder, the latter scoring Williams for a 6-4 advantage.

The RailRiders added another run in the seventh thanks in large to a one-out Frazier triple. He came home to score when Cave followed with a single, making the lead 7-4.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre added three more in the eighth off reliever Matt Grace, giving the RailRiders nine unanswered runs since the beginning of the sixth. Williams opened with a single, which Solano followed by stroking a double to left. Gamel then brought home both runners with a double to the left-center gap, growing the lead to 9-4. The lead became 10-4 RailRiders when Gamel scored on a throwing error from Martinson at short.

The Chiefs and RailRiders face off Thursday night in the final meeting between the two clubs at NBT Bank Stadium. Paolo Espino is scheduled to pitch for the Chiefs opposite the RailRiders' Jordan Montgomery. First pitch is set for 6:35.