Sierra's homer gives Chiefs split with Knights Thursday

Syracuse, NY (August 9, 2018) - The Syracuse Chiefs and the Charlotte Knights split two games on Thursday at NBT Bank Stadium in front of a crowd of 5,181. Charlotte won the completion of a suspended game from Wednesday, 2-1. Syracuse won Thursday's seven-inning game, 3-2. Between the two games, Syracuse retired 28 consecutive Charlotte batters over a span of ten innings.

Charlotte (52-61) led off the top of the fourth inning on Wednesday with back-to-back home runs from Eloy Jiménez and José Rondón to take a 2-0 lead. After the bottom of the fourth inning, the tarp was put on the field and rain rolled in. The game was suspended until Thursday.
Syracuse (49-67) scored on Thursday in the bottom of the sixth. Matt Reynolds led off with a single, moved to second base on a Yadiel Hernandez groundout, and scored on a Jacob Wilson RBI single that cut the Charlotte lead to one, 2-1. 
The Chiefs did not allow a hit through the game's final five innings. Trevor Gott pitched a scoreless fifth inning with just a walk allowed. Austen Williams then pitched four perfect frames to close out the game. Williams struck out four batters en route to retiring the only 12 batters he faced.
The second game was scheduled for seven innings because it was the second game of the day.
The Chiefs got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Wilson and Reynolds both singled, putting runners at first and second base. Two batters later, with two outs, Moisés Sierra hammered a ball over the right-field wall for a three-run home run that gave the Chiefs a 3-0 lead.
Syracuse pitchers David Goforth and Carlos Torres combined to throw five perfect innings to start the game. Goforth pitched three innings with three strikeouts, and Torres followed with three strikeouts in two innings.
The Knights scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth off Chiefs reliever Jimmy Cordero. Patrick Leonard led off with a double. Dustin Garneau then singled to put runners on the corners. Cordero struck out the next two Charlotte batters, but Ryan Cordell singled him Leonard to trim the Chiefs advantage to two, 3-1. Jiménez followed with a single to left field, bringing home Garneau from second to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
The Chiefs begin a three-game series against the Gwinnett Stripers on Friday night. RHP Phillips Valdez is scheduled to pitch for Syracuse opposite RHP Touki Toussaint for Gwinnett. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.