Syracuse, New York

August 14, 2009

A quick trip out of town for a ballgame in Syracuse, a venue we hadn't been to in a couple of years. We stopped at Aiello's in Whitney Point for dinner along the way. Then onto Alliance Bank Park in Syracuse - the place was PACKED! Over 12,000 people! Dang fireworks nights! Although, as Jill said, this is one of those stadiums that doesn't feel 'claustrophobic' when it's full. We left around the seventh inning (per usual), stopped at McD's in Lafayette before coming the rest of the way home.

Ross Detwiler was very good for six innings. The Syracuse Chiefs' bullpen was barely good enough for three.

The mix produced all the drama that the largest crowd to fill Alliance Bank Stadium since 2001 could have wanted.

Detwiler earned his first victory of the season at any level with six shutout innings and closer Zack Segovia finally shut the door on pesky Rochester as the Chiefs survived with a 4-3 win in front of a beyond capacity crowd of 12,288.

Detwiler (1-2) fanned five and gave up five hits in picking up his first victory after going 0-fer at the Double-A, major-league and Triple-A levels. The feat earned him a shaving cream pie to the face from coach John Poppert after the game.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he gets on a roll and wins every start the rest of the year," Syracuse pitching coach Rich Gale said. "And this is a huge, huge weight off his shoulders. I told him one of these days the worm is going to turn."

Kory Casto produced four hits for the Chiefs, and he, Pete Orr, Daryle Ward and Jhonatan Solano each drove in runs.

Detwiler left with a 2-0 lead but the usually reliable bullpen nearly let the lead slip away. In the top of the seventh, Zechry Zinicola walked Rochester's Matt Tolbert with the bases loaded to let the Red Wings come within 2-1. Clint Everts then came on to fan Trevor Plouffe and end the threat.

The Chiefs answered with a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half. Orr lined a sacrifice fly to drive in Ian Desmond from third, and Casto followed with his fourth hit of the game to tally Solano from second for a 4-1 lead.

Everts gave up a double and a walk to open the eighth, and Josh Wilkie relieved him. Danny Valencia singled to load the bases with no outs, but Wilkie fanned David Winfree, got Steven Tolleson to ground into a force-out at home and induced Brock Peterson into another ground-out to pull off the Houdini act.

Rochester kept rumbling in the ninth. Yunior Novoa opened the inning on the mound, and Brian Buscher touched him for a leadoff homer to make it 4-2. Tolbert then doubled.

Segovia came in and gave up a single to Dustin Martin that plated Tolbert. But Segovia fanned Jose Morales and got Justin Huber to ground into a double play.

"Anybody who comes here is going to pitch," Foli said of his bullpen rotation. "My first goal is to teach. The second part is to evaluate. I need to see these guys against some good hitters and see how they're doing. I'm just trying to get the right guys out there in the right situations."

The Chiefs struck for single runs in the first and sixth innings for a 2-0 lead. Solano helped Syracuse strike first, with an RBI single that drove in Justin Maxwell to make it 1-0.

Chiefs second baseman Seth Bynum made one of the best defensive plays of the season to preserve that score in the top of the sixth. With two outs and Tolbert on second, Huber hit a little blooper to short right. Bynum raced to his left onto the outfield grass to make a diving snare.

In the bottom of that inning, Ward pushed the Syracuse cushion to 2-0 with an RBI single that brought home Casto.

Note - International League President Randy Mobley, in town for Friday's International League Hall of Fame ceremony before the game, said he will speak to Chiefs manager Tim Foli today about a possible disciplinary matter. Foli was ejected from a game Tuesday after a heated argument with home plate umpire Rob Healey. Healey kicked out Syracuse pitcher Segovia after he plunked a Toledo batter. Foli made contact with one of the umpires during the dispute. Mobley said he has reviewed a replay of the incident and will likely made a decision regarding a further penalty after speaking with Foli. "He's pretty fair," Foli said of Mobley. "If he sees the film, he'll be all right."

Total Mileage: 160 Miles

Total Miles Travelled:
84,067 Miles!

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Page Last Updated: August 19, 2009