Syracuse Slips by Stripers with Late Homer

SYRACUSE, NY - A solo home run by Pedro Severino with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the Syracuse Chiefs to a 3-2 win over the Gwinnett Stripers on Saturday night in game two of the three-game series at NBT Bank Stadium. 
Severino's homer (5) came off reliever Phillip Pfeifer (L, 0-2), dropping the Stripers to 3-2 on the current road trip.

Roswell, Georgia native Connor Johnstone made the start for Gwinnett after being called up from Advanced-A Florida. He pitched well, working 5.0 innings with three hits, two earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts. The only runs he gave up came in the bottom of the second, when Andrew Stevenson connected on a two-run homer (5) for a 2-0 Syracuse lead.
In the top of the third, the Stripers tied the game at 2-2. Austin Riley cracked a solo homer (5) off Syracuse starter Austin Voth, and back-to-back doubles by Rio Ruiz and Dustin Peterson plated the second run.
The Stripers out-hit the Chiefs 8-4 on the night, but were unable to push across any more runs, going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving seven on base.
Following Johnstone's outing, Corbin Clouse pitched 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings, walked three and struck out one in his Triple-A debut. Pfeifer allowed one run on one hit and struck out one over 1.0 inning.
For Syracuse, Voth tossed 7.0 innings with six hits, two earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. Austin Adams (W, 1-2) worked 1.0 inning with two hits, one walk and two strikeouts. Trevor Gott (S, 1) pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth with one strikeout.
Riley led the Gwinnett attack by going 3-for-4 with a double and a solo homer, his first Triple-A clout since May 30 at Indianapolis. He is now 7-for-9 in the series. Ruiz was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Peterson increased his on-base streak to 26 games by going 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
For the Chiefs, Stevenson was 1-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs and Severino was 1-for-4 with a homer and one RBI.
The Stripers (55-60) conclude the three-game series in Syracuse on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Gwinnett will start right-hander Andres Santiago (2-3, 4.85 ERA). The Chiefs (50-68) will start right-hander Jefry Rodriguez (1-2, 4.39 ERA). Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 and 93.5 FM "The Other Side of the River" beginning at 12:35 p.m.