6/26/07: Offense Still Eludes Chiefs

Syracuse ended their 28 inning scoreless streak in the 8th inning Tuesday night at Alliance Bank Stadium, however they could only muster that one run. Syracuse lost to the Charlotte Knights 4 to 1, as Knights' starter Gavin Floyd (6-3)pitched seven innings, giving up only four hits, one of which was a solo homer by Chiefs catcher Erik Kratz. Carlos Vasquez pitched a perfect 2 innings to get the save, as again the Chiefs could do nothing at the plate. Syracuse starter Yusaku Iriki left the game in the 3rd inning with what looked to be a foot injury. He left the bases loaded with no outs, however Justin James came in and got Ryan Sweeney to hit into a double play, which almost turned into a triple play, as 3rd baseman Brad Hassey took the grounder, tagged Jerry Owens in going to third in stride, as he threw to get the out at second, but the throw was late at first. This accounted for Iriki's (0-1)only earned run, however it was enough to give him the loss. Things stayed 1-0 until the top of the 8th, when Charlotte started their 2 run rally on one of Wayne Lydon's two miscues in right field. Danny Richar took a Ryan Houston pitch to right field for a triple, as Lydon never found the ball until it bounced in front of him, and the turf gave it a mighty lift over his head. After walking the next batter, Earl Snyder, Houston was replaced by Mike Venafro, who hit first baseman Casey Rogowski on a 2 strike count to load the bases. After a sac fly by Brian Anderson scored Richar, Wiki Gonzalez brought home Snyder with a single to give Charlotte the 3-0 lead. Ernie Young capped off the scoring with a solo homer in the 9th, to give us our 4-1 final.

In their last three games, the Chiefs have only scored one run while accumulating a miniscule twelve hits. They find themselves 8 games out of first, and looking at the standings, the upper teir (Buffalo, Rochester, Scranton) are starting to pull away from the bottom half (Syracuse, Pawtucket, Ottawa), a big 6.5 games between 3rd place Rochester and 4th place Syracuse) The North Division now has three of the worst four records in the IL, the only other team in that range was tonight's victors, the Charlotte Knights.