Total Team Effort Extends Chiefs' Streak to Nine Games

By Nick Richardson

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A comprehensive nine-man effort helped the Syracuse Chiefs rack up their ninth consecutive win, defeating the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 9-5 Wednesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. The streak is the longest the Chiefs have had in three years.

“We walked over some hot coals for a while,” Chiefs manager Billy Gardner said after the game, referencing the team’s struggles for most of the season. “These guys continue to grind it out, play hard until the last out and they don’t give up. I think the clubhouse environment is really good right now. They get along well.”

On a night where the ball was flying around the park at times, Syracuse (52-67) received contributions from the entire lineup. Everybody on the Chiefs, including the pitchers, contributed either a hit, run or run batted in. Leading the way were Emmanuel Burriss, Jason Martinson and Dan Butler, all three of whom drove in two runs in the victory. Kevin Keyes, Matt Skole and starting pitcher Paolo Espino provided the rest of the offense.

It was in the bottom of the fourth inning where the Chiefs really broke things open. With the score tied at 2-2 after a Kelly Dugan RBI single for Lehigh Valley (53-65), the Chiefs brought all nine men to the plate in the bottom half, scoring five runs to create a comfortable lead.

After Matt Skole grounded out, Matt den Dekker and Caleb Ramsey got things started with back-to-back singles and were eventually driven in on Butler’s two-run double. Butler was subsequently brought in on an RBI double by Burriss, and after Trea Turner worked out a walk, Martinson brought both of them in with a hard-hit double of his own.

For all the offense that the Chiefs were able to muster, their pitching was hit and miss. Espino worked five tough innings, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out two. It was in his final inning of work, though, that Espino had the most difficulty, surrendering three runs in the frame, all of which came on a Brian Bogusevic home run.

Fortunately for the Chiefs, the bullpen did its job as it has all throughout this winning streak. Leading the way was P.J. Walters, who delivered three shutout innings of relief, striking out four IronPigs and walking none.

“The team’s pretty good about picking each other up,” Walters said. “An extra inning here, an extra inning there, it helps the next guy be fresh. Out there in the bullpen we’re all trying to help each other that way.”

Walters’ manager was also happy that his bullpen got a bit of a break tonight.

“We were thin down there,” Gardner said. “We needed some work out of him [Walters] and he gave us three good innings, with the lead and held it. He’s really done a good job in some high-leverage situations for us.”

Matt Grace closed it out in the ninth.

The Chiefs and IronPigs close out the series on Thursday night with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.