Syracuse Wins 17-10. No Not The Orange...

You know it was a wild game when every starter from both teams had a hit. You know it was a wild game when in consecutive half innings, each team batted around and scored 8 and 7 runs respectively. You know it was a wild game when Columbus first baseman Larry Broadway pitched for his second outing in a row. That was your game Thursday night between Syracuse and Columbus. Simply unbelievable after an almost embarrassing situation the night before. On Wednesday, Syracuse has an 8-1 lead before giving up five runs in a 9th inning that had the go ahead run at the plate for the Clippers before Syracuse got the final out.



Well, on Thursday Syracuse jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first two innings. After Columbus brought it to 6-3, Syracuse had a 2 run inning followed by an 8 run inning to make it 16-3. In historic Syracuse fashion, it was 16-10 by the end of the Clippers' next at bats. Luckily, that was as close as it would get.


I think Syracuse was fortunate that the Clippers looked to be conserving pitching. Their starter, Bobby Brownlie, was kept in the game into the sixth inning, while giving up a total of ten runs. Of course, his relief was not so good as Chris Schroder gave up four runs in a third of an inning and Chris Booker did not get an out from either of the batters he faced. Booker's last pitch was hit over the center field wall by Erik Kratz for a grand slam. Go figure, though, once infielder Larry Broadway came in to relieve, Syracuse's bats cooled off a bit. In Broadway's two appearances, he went a total of three and two thirds innings, while only giving up two hits and one run (both Thursday night).


Three Stars of the Game:

#3 Adam Lind - Lind went 3 for 4 with two runs and three RBIs. He did most of his damage early in the game, with a two run double in the 1st, while singling home the run in the second. These plays helped put Syracuse in the 6-0 early lead that put Columbus back into a corner. Lind also gets bonus points for getting a double off Broadway, which is more than pretty much the whole lineup could do against the position player.

#2 Erik Kratz - It didn't seem so important at the time, but Kratz's grand slam to put Syracuse up 16-3 ended up being more meaningful than just a stat booster. Those four runs made the Clippers seven run rally merely cut the lead to 6, instead of 2. Kratz ended up 2 for 5, having doubled earlier in the game.

#1 David Smith - Smith's two run homer to make the game 5-0 in the first was just the start of things for his Thursday night. The DH also had a two run single in the huge 6th inning, as well as another homer in the 8th. Overall, he was 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 5 RBI. It's not just the stats, but the situations that were great. In the sixth, he came up with the bases loaded and one out. A bad swing here could have easily ended the inning. Clutch hitting, as well as the bonus point of scoring the only run off Broadway.

Syracuse is still a half game out of first in the division, behind Scranton/Wilkes Barre. The Chiefs do hold a game and half lead for the wild card over Pawtucket and Louisville. Obviously, it's too early to pay that much attention, but it's not like we are used to it here in Syracuse.