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IL1 Syracuse Mets

Bulls Rally, Beat Chiefs in Series Opener

May 8, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Syracuse Mets News Release


Syracuse, NY (5/8/2015) - The Syracuse Chiefs dropped the series opener to the Durham Bulls, 7-6, Friday night. The Chiefs came out swinging, scoring five of their six runs in the second and third innings. Chiefs designated hitter Ian Stewart had two home runs and four runs batted in.

Syracuse (11-17) got on the board early in its first meeting against Durham this season. The Chiefs started their barrage off Durham starter Matt Buschmann in the bottom of the second inning. Third baseman Jason Martinson led off the inning with a walk. In the very next at-bat Stewart blasted a two-run home run to right field. Following Stewart, left fielder Matt den Dekker doubled to center field. After catcher Steve Lerud walked and second baseman Cutter Dykstra struck out swinging, center fielder and newly acquired Chief Darin Mastroianni doubled to drive in den Dekker from second. Through two at-bats, Mastroianni was 2 for 2 with an RBI in his Chiefs debut. The Chiefs led 3-0 after two innings.

In the bottom of the third, the Chiefs tacked on two more runs off the bat of Stewart. After Martinson reached first on a fielder's choice, Stewart came to bat in the same situation as the previous inning: a runner on first and none out. Stewart blasted his second two-run home run to right field in as many innings to put Syracuse up 5-0 going into the fourth inning.

Durham (18-11) put a small dent in Syracuse's lead in the top of the fourth inning. Second baseman Nick Franklin reached first on a one-out single. With Franklin on first, left fielder Eugenio Velez doubled to put runners on second and third and one out. Center fielder Corey Brown then drove in Franklin from third on a ground ball to Ka'aihue. Ka'aihue took the out at first rather than a throw home. Still, the Chiefs led 5-1.

The Chiefs would get that run right back, however, in the bottom of the fifth. Leading off the inning, shortstop Emmanuel Burriss connected to hit his first home run of the 2015 season, and extended Syracuse's lead to 6-1.

After the Chiefs went up by five, the Bulls started to tack on the runs. In the top of the sixth, Franklin got his second hit of the day, a one-out double. Velez singled to center off of Syracuse starter Taylor Jordan to drive in Franklin and cut the Syracuse lead to only four runs.

The runs continued for Durham when it came back to bat in the top of the seventh. Reliever Jose Valverde came in for his Chiefs debut, but surrendered three runs after retiring the first batter. Valverde surrendered three consecutive doubles, first to first baseman Vincent Belnome and then to third baseman Leonardo Reginatto, who drove in Belnome. Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee claimed the third double off Valverde, driving in Reginatto. Durham got its third run in four batters when right fielder Taylor Motter hit a sacrifice fly to Mastroianni to drive in Lee and cut the Syracuse lead to one run.

The Bulls tied and won the game in the top of the ninth. Chiefs reliever Rafael Martin gave up a leadoff double to Lee and a four-pitch walk to Motter. Both runners advanced into scoring position after a fielder's choice groundout by Franklin. Lee then scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Velez. Brown, in the next at-bat, drove in Motter as the winning run with a double into the right-field corner, to put the Bulls up 7-6.

Syracuse threatened in the bottom of the ninth. The Chiefs had the bases loaded with only one out, but Burriss lined out to Reginatto at third, who then stepped on the base to retire Dykstra and end the game.

Syracuse will face Durham for the second game of a three-game series tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Right-hander Taylor Hill will take the mound to face left-hander Scott Diamond for the Bulls.

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