RailRiders sweep two-game set from Chiefs
Syracuse, NY (August 25, 2016) - The Syracuse Chiefs fell to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 4-0, Thursday evening at NBT Bank Stadium. All nine RailRiders' batters had hits in the win. The shutout was the 23rd on the year for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the most for an International League team since 1975. Paolo Espino allowed only two runs over seven innings in the loss.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (83-49) scored the game's first two runs in the top of the second against Syracuse's starter Paolo Espino. Chris Parmelee led off the inning with an infield single. After a groundout, Jake Cave walked, putting runners on first and second. Pete Kozma then singled into left field, scoring Parmelee. Eddy Rodriguez followed up with a single to center field to load the bases. With one out, Mason Williams hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Cave to give the RailRiders a 2-0 lead.
Syracuse (58-73) struggled to find a rhythm offensively against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's starter Jordan Montgomery. The southpaw scattered five baserunners across five and two-thirds innings, striking out eight without allowing a run. Montgomery extended his scoreless streak to 24 and one-third innings in the win.
Espino was sharp on the mound for the Chiefs in the loss. He pitched seven strong innings, allowing just the two second-inning runs on six hits, while striking out nine.
The Yankees' Triple-A affiliate crossed the plate two more times in the eighth off reliever Trevor Gott. With one out, Ben Gamel golfed a home run to right-center field to put the RailRiders up 3-0. The home run was Gamel's sixth of the year. Then, after a groundout, Clint Frazier hit a triple off the right-center field fence. Cave followed with a single up the middle, scoring Frazier to give the RailRiders the final 4-0 advantage.
Syracuse returns to action Friday night for the first off of a four-game series with the Pawtucket Red Sox. Austin Voth is scheduled to pitch for the Chiefs against Henry Owens for the PawSox. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. at NBT Bank Stadium.