Syracuse, New York

June 17, 2007

It was Father's Day 2007, and the only thing I really wanted was to sit and relax and watch a baseball game! So, Jill gave me just that for a present - tickets to the Syracuse Chiefs versus the Toledo Mud Hens game at Alliance Bank Park in Syracuse. We had seats four rows behind the Toledo dugout, which provided us with a great view of the game. That, and, since it was Father's Day, the first 2,000 dad's in attendance were given a free cup and one free draft beer or soda to put in the cup - bonus!! We stayed until around the middle of the 7th and then headed back home.

Mottola hits 1,000-RBI plateau
June 17, 2007

Chad Mottola drove in the 1,000th run of his Minor League career as Syracuse defeated visiting Toledo, 6-4, on Sunday. Mottola, a 35-year-old left fielder who began his pro career in 1992, reached the millennium mark with an RBI single during a five-run first inning that carried the Chiefs (32-36) to victory.

"This isn't something I had in mind when I started out, but while I'm here I might as well enjoy it," said Mottola, who has had brief Major League stints with Toronto, Florida and Baltimore.

"My goal right now is to get back to the big leagues and be ready when they need me," he added.

Mottola is only the second active Minor League player to have reached the 1,000-RBI mark. Ernie Young of Charlotte in the International League has 1,121.

Ryan Roberts smacked his fourth homer, a solo shot, Jeff Duncan contributed a sacrifice fly and Erik Kratz ripped a two-run double during the first-inning outburst.

Josh Banks (6-4) allowed two runs on five hits, striking out six and walking one over six innings to pick up the win. Blaine Neal tossed two hitless shutout frames for his seventh save.

Mike Hessman and Jack Hannahan smacked back-to-back solo homers in the second for the Mud Hens (39-31). Hessman has 19, tops in the International League. Hannahan's was his fifth.

Toledo starter Dennis Tankersley (6-5) surrendered five runs on six hits, fanning one without issuing a walk in 1 1/3 frames to take the loss. --Alan Friedman/MLB.com

Toledo
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Espinosa RF 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .190
Mateo SS 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .254
Perez, T DH 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .323
Raburn CF 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 .291
Shelton 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .276
Hessman 3B 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 .263
Hannahan 2B 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 .302
Maples LF 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .233
Graham C 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .222
Tankersley P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Johnson, J P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Ostlund P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Darensbourg P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Lopez P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

BATTING
HR: Hessman (19, 2nd inning off Banks, J, 0 on, 1 out), Hannahan (5, 2nd inning off Banks, J, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Mateo; Perez, T 2; Shelton; Hessman 4; Hannahan 4; Maples.
RBI: Hessman (61), Hannahan (30), Perez, T (34), Raburn (55).
2-out RBI: Perez, T; Raburn.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Raburn; Hessman; Shelton 2; Graham.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
SB: Mateo (5, 3rd base off Banks, J/Kratz).

FIELDING
DP: (Hannahan-Mateo-Shelton).

Syracuse
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Lydon CF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .281
Roberts 3B 3 1 2 0 0 1 1 2 0 .281
Adams 2B 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .257
Barker 1B 3 1 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .246
Mottola LF 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 .275
Griffin, J DH 4 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 .244
Duncan RF 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 .230
Kratz C 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 .218
Olmedo SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273
Hassey SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .194
Banks, J P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
League P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Houston P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Neal P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

BATTING
2B: Kratz (2, Tankersley), Griffin, J (13, Johnson, J).
HR: Roberts (4, 1st inning off Tankersley, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Lydon; Roberts 5; Adams; Barker 3; Mottola 2; Griffin, J 4; Kratz 2.
RBI: Roberts (18), Mottola (22), Duncan (6), Kratz 2 (14), Barker (44).
2-out RBI: Kratz 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Olmedo; Mottola 2; Duncan 2; Griffin, J.
SF: Duncan; Barker.
GIDP: Olmedo.
Team LOB: 11.

BASERUNNING
SB: Lydon (9, 2nd base off Johnson, J/Graham).

Toledo
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Tankersley (L, 6-5) 1.1 6 5 5 0 1 1 5.62
Johnson, J 2.0 4 1 1 2 2 0 2.58
Ostlund 0.1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3.57
Darensbourg 3.1 1 0 0 1 3 0 0.59
Lopez 1.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1.16

Syracuse
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Banks, J (W, 6-4) 6.0 5 2 2 1 6 2 5.03
League 0.1 1 2 2 1 1 0 13.50
Houston (H, 3) 0.2 1 0 0 2 1 0 5.22
Neal (S, 7) 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3.69

Pitches-strikes: Tankersley 41-28, Johnson, J 40-22, Ostlund 15-10, Darensbourg 42-29, Lopez 21-8, Banks, J 94-65, League 14-7, Houston 20-11, Neal 32-21.
Ground outs-fly outs: Tankersley 2-1, Johnson, J 2-2, Ostlund 0-1, Darensbourg 4-3, Lopez 0-3, Banks, J 8-4, League 0-0, Houston 0-1, Neal 3-1.
Batters faced: Tankersley 10, Johnson, J 11, Ostlund 3, Darensbourg 12, Lopez 5, Banks, J 24, League 3, Houston 5, Neal 7.
Inherited runners-scored: Ostlund 2-1, Darensbourg 3-0, Houston 2-2.
Umpires: HP: Adrian Johnson. 1B: Christopher Conroy. 2B: . 3B: Joshua Carlisle.
Weather: 81 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 10 mph, Out to CF.
T: 3:17.
Att: 5,986.

Total Mileage: 146 Miles

Total Miles Travelled:
181,942 Miles!