Chiefs Lose Rubber Game against Norfolk Tides

Story by Thomas Zhou
Photos by Jiayang Zhang

Syracuse, N.Y-  Christian Walker’s ground ball single to center scored Chris Parmelee from second, in the top of the ninth to give Norfolk a 2-1 lead. Then Tides pitcher Oliver Drake struck out the side on twelve pitches in the bottom of the ninth and Norfolk (14-13) defeated the Syracuse Chiefs (11-16) in the final game of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. The teams had split the first two games.

Both teams' starting pitchers had strong outings. While walking five Chiefs, Mike Wright allowed just one run on three hits and struck out four Chiefs in five innings. Bruce Billings pitched six innings for Syracuse and also allowed only one run on three hits. He struck out three Norfolk hitters and in one stretch retired 13 Tides in a row.

"He did really a good job today," Chiefs manager Billy Gardner said. "… Moving around and changing the beat."


Norfolk strikes, Syracuse answers.

The Tides struck in the top of the first. Nolan Reimold's doubled down the left field line and  Parmelee followed with a single to score him.

The Chiefs responded in the bottom of the second. Matt den Dekker singled to right field. Cutter Dykstra's groundout advanced den Dekker to second and Emmanuel Burriss drove him home with a base-hit.

"You’ve got two outs and one in scoring position," Burriss said. "You pretty much enter an attack mode. Whenever you can get a pitch elevated, you want to go after it."


Syracuse misses opportunities

Syracuse had missed a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the first inning. Wright walked  Burriss, the leadoff batter. With one out, Mark Minicozzi singled off Wright's foot, giving the Chiefs runners at first and second.  But Kila Ka'aihue popped out to third in foul territory and Wright then struck out Jason Martinson.

Syracuse had men on first and second again in the bottom of the sixth inning. Ka'aihue walked and Martinson lined a single. But third baseman Michael Almanzar caught den Dekker's line drive and  Dykstra then grounded into a double play.

Norfolk held Syracuse to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and went 2-for-7 itself.

"We've got some good opportunities but we got trapped on the bases," Gardner said.


Up Next

The Chiefs will have a day off and open another three-game home series against Durham. After a season-long 10-game road trip, the Tides will host Buffalo for a three game set. Both games start at 8 p.m. on Friday.