Hill dazzles in Chiefs' rout of Bisons

Buffalo, NY (June 30, 2017) - A four-run, second-inning explosion powered the Syracuse Chiefs over the Buffalo Bisons, 6-1, on a Friday evening matchup from Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo. Taylor Hill made a magnificent spot start for Syracuse, allowing just one run in eight innings. Clint Robinson went 3 for 4 with a single, double, and home run, leaving the left-handed power batter just a triple shy of the hitting for the cycle.

Syracuse (28-50) kicked off the scoring in the second inning against T.J. House. With one out, Neftali Soto started the flurry with a walk on a 3-2 pitch. In the next at-bat, Robinson singled on a line drive into right field. Then, with Spencer Kieboom batting, House was called for a balk, which put both Soto and Robinson in scoring position. Kieboom made House pay during the same plate appearance when he slapped a single into right, plating both runners to open the scoring. Caleb Ramsey then followed with a double into left, allowing Kieboom to pull into third. A groundout from Emmanuel Burriss and a single from Andrew Stevenson in the next two at-bats scored Kieboom and Ramsey, respectively, and put the Chiefs in front 4-0.
Robinson extended the Chiefs' lead with one swing of the bat in the fourth. The burly designated hitter crushed a 2-2 breaking ball over the right-center-field fence increasing the lead to 5-0.
The Chiefs continued to pile on the runs in the top of the sixth. Robinson pummeled another fly ball to nearly the exact same spot as his home run, but it clanked off the wall as the former National pulled into second with a double. In the next at-bat, Kieboom ripped a single into center field to propel Robinson to third. With runners at the corners, Ramsey grounded into a double play which brought Robinson in to score, boosting the lead to 6-0.
Buffalo (37-44) finally got on the board in the eighth inning. With two outs, Raffy Lopez poked a soft line drive toward right field. Ramsey started to move in to make the catch, but ended up slipping on the outfield grass as the ball went over his head and to the wall, with Lopez pulling into third on a stand-up, two-out triple. In the next at-bat, a high fastball clanked off the glove of the Chiefs' catcher, Kieboom, and rolled to the backstop, allowing Lopez to score on the passed ball.
Stephen Perez collected his first Triple-A hit and first two Triple-A RBIs in the same at-bat in the top of the ninth inning. With John Stilson on the mound and two outs, Irving Falu reached on an infield single to second base. After a single from Alejandro De Aza, Perez stepped to the plate and smacked a double into the right-field corner, scoring both Falu and De Aza to push the Chiefs' lead to 8-1. The former Miami Hurricane walked and doubled in three plate appearances in his triple-A debut after coming up to replace newly-promoted National Adrían Sanchez.
Hill pitched brilliantly in his spot-start victory. The right-hander was promoted from Double-A Harrisburg to pitch the game and allowed just one unearned run on three hits in eight innings of work. The eight-inning effort was Hill's longest outing since another eight-inning tilt on May 14, 2015 at Gwinnett. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.
The Chiefs and Bisons meet again on Saturday evening from Coca-Cola Field at 7:05 pm. Edwin Jackson is scheduled to take the mound for Syracuse while right-hander Cesar Valdez gets the start for Buffalo.