Chiefs drop series finale to IronPigs

Syracuse, NY (May 20, 2018) - The Syracuse Chiefs lost the series finale against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 5-2. Irving Falu had three hits and Jason Martinson had his first RBI of the season, but the IronPigs did enough to win and sweep the three-game series. 

Lehigh Valley (23-17) struck first in the top of the second inning. Trevor Plouffe led off with a walk. After Andrew Pullin popped out to shortstop, Logan Moore singled to put runners on first and third base. Two batters later, Dean Anna popped a ball up in the infield that fell in for a single, scoring Plouffe for a 1-0 IronPigs lead.

Syracuse (19-21) got on the board in the bottom of the second. With one out, Matt Reynolds doubled. On a Tuffy Gosewisch fly out to deep center field, Reynolds tagged up and moved to third. Jason Martinson followed with a single that scored Reynolds to tie the game, 1-1.

The IronPigs regained the lead in the third. Alexi Amarista singled to begin the inning and moved to second on a Joey Meneses groundout to shortstop. Dylan Cozens then singled home Amarista to put Lehigh Valley in front, 2-1.

The Chiefs responded in the bottom of the third. Irving Falu singled, stole second based and moved to third base on a throwing error by IronPigs catcher Logan Moore, and then scored on a José Marmolejos ground out, knotting the game at two.

Lehigh Valley broke the tie in the fifth. With one out, Meneses walked. After Cozens flied out to left field, Plouffe singled to put runners on first and second. Pullin then walked to load the bases. Moore followed with a walk that brought home Meneses for a 3-2 Lehigh Valley edge.

The IronPigs added an exclamation point in the seventh. With two outs, Plouffe worked a walk. Pullin followed with a two-run home run over the right-field wall to extend the Lehigh Valley lead to three, 5-2.

Syracuse begins an eight-day road trip on Monday with the first game of a four-game series against the Buffalo Bisons at Coca-Cola Field. RHP Austin Voth will pitch for the Chiefs, while RHP Chris Rowley will be on the mound for the Bisons. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.