An Uncommon Doubleheader With The Talk of PEDs In The Air

By: Brittany Jones
 
Suspended game concludes...

It's not often that you see two ball teams meet to complete a suspended game.  The Syracuse Chiefs and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders met at NBT Bank Stadium to finish their July 12th game, with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders as the home team.

August 6th:
Syracuse Chiefs vs Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

The score was 6 - 6 in the 12th inning, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders' pitcher Mark Montgomery was on the mound to start the inning.  Montgomery struck out the first two batters of the night.  After giving up a hit to Josh Johnson and walking Jhonatan Solano, he got Will Rhymes to fly out to right field to leave runners on first and third.

The Chiefs sent Mike Crotta to the mound in hopes of quickly ending this extended game.  Crotta got the first two batters to ground out before walking Dan Johnson.  However Crotta struck out Ronnie Mustelier on four pitches to send the game to the 13th inning.

The 13th inning started off with a one, two, three inning by Montgomery.  The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders had the bottom of their lineup due up next.  After Corey Patterson struck out on three pitches, Melky Mesa drew a walk and stole second base.  With only one out, the winning run was now in scoring position.  Brendan Harris hit a single to move Mesa to third. Albert Gonzalez then hit a walk off single to left fielder Tyler Moore to end the game, and give the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders the win after 13 innings.

The Chiefs turned the tables in the second game, reverting to being the home team and winning 3-2 behind solid pitching by Yunesky Maya.

A major problem in a minor place

But this uncommon scheduled doubleheader was not the only talk around the stadium that night, as baseball players were asked about the issue of Performance Enhancing Drugs.  Syracuse Chiefs' Will Rhymes pointed out that the first game may never have been suspended if not for PEDs.

On July 12, with the Chiefs up by one in the 7th inning, Fernando Martinez hit a home-run to tie the game.  As a result of this run the game went into extra innings, where rain stopped it after the eleventh, still tied.

On Monday August 5th, Major League Baseball handed out multiple suspensions to those who violated MLB's drug policy, and Martinez was of many on that list and received a first offense penalty of 50 games suspension.

Syracuse Chiefs' infielder Will Rhymes, who had some playing time in the Majors but signed a Minor League contract in November 2012, sees players using Performance-Enhancing drugs and cheating the system as unfair.  

"The vast majority of us are pretty upset about it, especially guys like me who have been up and down for the last several years," Rhymes said.  That was 12 jobs that one of us could have had.  Obviously the system isn't working, and unfortunately the player's union is going to protect the one percent of dudes who are making the A-Rods, but their forgetting about those of us who are grinding out for the minimum."

The Chiefs' Zach Walters agreed, and said he has no respect for the players who are using PEDs.  "For as far as cheating goes and guys that are getting caught, I really hope that every guy gets caught."

Dan Becker, a Syracuse Chief fan of 15 years who was at the game with his nephew, felt the PED issue had a negative effect on the game of baseball.  "It's definitely given it a black eye"

Though the PEDs scandal continues to have a major effect in Major League Baseball, it also has affected Minor League Baseball in several ways.


Up Next: The Syracuse Chiefs and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders to play each other again on Wednesday.  The game is scheduled to start at 7pm.