Chiefs split pair with RailRiders

By Ben Burrows

            Yunesky Maya pitched eight strong innings and Josh Johnson added a two-out, RBI double in the fourth inning as the Syracuse Chiefs defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 3-2, on Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium.

            Maya (7-7) limited the RailRiders to just two runs on five hits while striking out five on 101 pitches.

            “He was great,” first baseman Tyler Moore said. “He located his heater and got ahead with his curveball. It’s tough on those guys—he was good.”

            Trailing by a run in the fourth inning, the Chiefs pulled ahead for good with a string of four straight hits.

            After Tyler Moore struck out swinging and Chris Marrero popped out to the shortstop for the first two outs of the inning, the Chiefs singled three straight times before Josh Johnson doubled to left field to score the go-ahead run.  

            Johnson took the first two pitches for balls before Scranton-Wilkes-Barre pitcher David Huff (4-6) fooled him on the 2-0 pitch. Johnson then drove the 2-1 pitch into left field to score Zach Walters from second base for the winning run.

            “He had good stuff, a hard fastball,” Johnson said. “I was just looking for a pitch I could handle. I got something elevated. He kind of fooled me 2-0, but it worked out.”

            The Chiefs scored the go-ahead run on Johnson’s double, but catcher Jhonatan Solano, who was trying to score from first, was thrown out at home by shortstop Alberto Gonzalez on a relay throw from left fielder Corey Patterson.

Syracuse University professor, John Nicholson, reacts after
chasing down his first ever foul ball. Nicholson was at
the game with students from SU. 

            “I thought it was awesome,” Johnson said of Solano attempting to score from first base. “We were in Rochester in the same scenario with me on first base and him hitting and he hit a double down the line and I got in there and he was upset he didn’t make it.”

            With the win, Syracuse improves to 53-63 on the season, and despite recent struggles, Johnson says a close win like the one on Tuesday could help get the team going for the rest of the season.

            “It feels good,” he said. “We have a good vibe in the clubhouse right now and a game like this could get the ball moving.”

            The Chiefs scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning. Eury Perez led off the inning with a double to left field and was followed by a Jeff Kobernus single. Moore then drove in Perez from third on a sacrifice fly to right field.

            Before the regularly scheduled game on Tuesday, Syracuse and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre completed a postponed game that started on July 12. The Chiefs and RailRiders were tied, 6-6, in the 11th inning in Moosic, Pa when the game was stopped.

            The RailRiders won, 7-6, on a walkoff single by Alberto Gonzalez in the bottom of the 13th when Gonzalez singled to left field to score Melky Mesa from third.

            The Chiefs squandered a scoring opportunity in the top of the 12th with two outs and runners on the corners.

            After Johnson singled and stole second and third base, Will Rhymes flew out to right field to end the threat.

            “I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Rhymes said. “I was trying to get something up in the zone and it didn’t work out. I just missed the pitch.”