Chiefs and IronPigs split doubleheader Saturday night

Allentown, PA (August 4, 2018) - The Syracuse Chiefs split a doubleheader against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Saturday evening with a 3-1 Chiefs win in the first game and a 11-5 IronPigs victory in the second game. Syracuse hit three home runs during the night. while Lehigh Valley hit two long balls.

Syracuse (47-65) took the game one lead in the second inning. Alejandro De Aza homered down the right-field line off Tom Eshelman to give the Chiefs an early 1-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley (69-43) answered in the bottom of the fifth. Phillips Valdez held the Pigs hitless through four and one-third innings, but with Aaron Altherr on first after a walk, Ryan Goins singled up the middle to put runners on first and third. Danny Ortiz followed with a sacrifice fly to score Altherr and tie the game.
The Chiefs broke the tie in the seventh inning. Jacob Wilson singled off Tom Eshelman to start the inning and two batters later, José Marmolejos hit a line drive home run over the 17-foot high right field fence to give the Chiefs a 3-1 lead.
In the second game, each team scored early. Syracuse picked up a run in the top of the first against Lehigh Valley starter Jake Thompson. Victor Robles led off the game with a walk. Andrew Stevenson then singled, putting runners on the corners. Matt Reynolds followed with a groundout to second base that scored Robles for a 1-0 Chiefs lead.

The IronPigs responded in the bottom of the first off Chiefs starting pitcher Logan Darnell. Jesmuel Valentín and Collin Cowgill both singled to lead off the frame, putting runners at first and second base. Altherr followed with a single, scoring Valentin to tie the game, 1-1. Cowgill advanced to third on the play thanks to a fielding error. Joey Meneses then doubled to left field, bringing home Cowgill to give the IronPigs a 2-1 edge.

Lehigh Valley added to its lead in the third. With one out, Altherr walked. Meneses then singled, moving Altherr to second. Two batters later, Zach Green tripled to right field, plating both Altherr and Meneses to extend the IronPigs advantage to three, 4-1.

The Chiefs trimmed the deficit in the top of the fourth against Mark Leiter, Jr. With two outs, Bengie González doubled to left field. Darnell followed with an infield single, and after the throw to first by Leiter was late, Gonzalez never stopped running and beat the throw home to make it a 4-2 ballgame.

The IronPigs broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth. Goins singled to center field, Valentin singled on a bunt, and Cowgill reached on an error during a sacrifice bunt, loading the bases. Altherr followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Goins to push the Lehigh Valley lead to 5-2. Meneses then hit a three-run homer to left-center field, giving the IronPigs an 8-2 advantage. The inning continued with a Danny Espinosa single. Green doubled home Espinosa to push the margin to 9-2. On the throw home during the play, Green moved up to third base. Green scored on a Matt McBride single to left field, making the Lehigh Valley lead eight, 10-2.

Syracuse cut into the deficit again in the fifth against Edubray Ramos. With one out, Yadiel Hernandez worked a walk. Marmolejos followed with a single to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Chris Dominguez took the first pitch he saw over the right-center field wall for a three-run home run that slashed the IronPigs advantage to five, 10-5.

Lehigh Valley put another run on the board in the sixth. With one out, McBride homered over the left-field wall off David Goforth to put the IronPigs in front 11-5.

The Chiefs and the IronPigs conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch for the matinee is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.