After six-run comeback, Chiefs fall to RailRiders in 11th

Syracuse, NY (June 16, 2018) - The Syracuse Chiefs overcame a six-run deficit to tie the game, but eventually lost to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 7-5, in 11 innings on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 5,758 at NBT Bank Stadium. Trailing 6-0 after two innings, Syracuse posted three runs in the sixth, a run in the seventh, and three in the eighth including a game-tying two-run single by Irving Falu to force extra innings. But the RailRiders scored two runs in the 11th inning to send Syracuse to an eighth-straight loss. 

Syracuse (28-38) trailed, 7-4, entering the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out, Yadiel Hernandez singled. Two batters later, Chris Dominguez singled, followed by a key Jake Lowery walk to load the bases. Andrew Stevenson was then hit by a pitch to score Hernandez and cut the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead two, 7-5. Falu followed with line drive into left field for a single that brought home both Dominguez and Lowery to tie the game, 7-7.

The game went to extra innings, and neither team scored in the tenth inning. The RailRiders had a runner thrown out at third base in the inning. The Chiefs stranded a runner on third.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (33-34) scored the decisive runs in the top of the 11th inning. Bruce Caldwell began the inning at second base. With Clint Frazier batting, a wild pitch allowed Caldwell to move to third. Frazier struck out, but Tyler Wade tripled to right-center field, scoring Caldwell for an 8-7 RailRiders lead. Brandon Drury was intentionally walked to put runners on first and third for Ryan McBroom who hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Wade and give Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a 9-7 advantage.

The RailRiders jumped on the board in the top of the first inning. Frazier walked and Wade singled to put runners on first and second base. Drury followed with a single that scored Frazier for a 1-0 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lead. Two batters later, after Wade stole third base and Drury stole second, Billy McKinney singled home Wade to make it a 2-0 ballgame. Abiatal Avelino then singled, scoring Drury from third to give the RailRiders a 3-0 edge.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre added to its lead in the second. With two outs, Frazier and Wade both singled to once again place runners on first and second. Drury followed with a single that scored Frazier to extend the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre advantage to 4-0. McBroom then doubled to bring home Wade from third and Drury from first for a 6-0 RailRiders lead.

Syracuse scored its first runs in the bottom of the sixth. Stevenson led off with a walk and Falu singled to put runners on first and second. José Marmolejos followed with a single that scored Stevenson to trim the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre edge to five, 6-1. Two batters later, with Falu at seocond and Marmolejos at first, Moisés Sierra grounded into a fielder's choice where Marmolejos was out at second, but Sierra was safe at first base on an errant throw made by RailRiders second baseman Abiatal Avelino that allowed Sierra to move to second and Falu to score to make it a 6-2 game. The scoring continued with a Yadiel Hernandez base hit, bringing home Sierra to cut the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre advantage to three, 6-3.

The Chiefs cut into the deficit again in the seventh. With one out, Lowery, Stevenson, and Falu all worked walks to load the bases. Marmolejos followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Lowery and drop the RailRiders lead to 6-4.

The RailRiders responded with a run in the top of the eighth. With one out, L.J. Mazzilli walked and Frazier singled, placing runners at first and second. Two batters later, Drury singled to right field to score Mazzilli and push the RailRiders advantage back to three, 7-4.

Syracuse and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre conclude their four-game series on Sunday afternoon. LHP Tommy Milone will be on the mound for the Chiefs while LHP Nestor Cortes Jr. will start for the RailRiders. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.