IRONPIGS WIN SUNDAY!

SYRACUSE, N.Y.
Finally, the IronPigs managed to hold onto a lead.

Hot-hitting Wilson Valdez chased home the tying run with a ninth-inning single before the go-ahead run scored on an infield out, and Scott Mathieson set down Syracuse in order in the bottom of the ninth inning as Lehigh Valley picked up its first win of the season Sunday afternoon with a 6-5 victory to salvage a win in a wild season-opening series in upstate New York.

Each of the four games were decided by one run in the winning team's final at-bat, the first three by Syracuse including two in extra innings.

The Chiefs (3-1) took a 5-4 lead into the ninth inning after tying the game in the fifth and scoring a go-ahead run in the seventh.

But Paul Hoover opened the ninth with a single, and pinch-runner Brian Bocock reached third when second baseman Pete Orr bobbled the throw on Rich Thompson's sacrifice bunt.

After Chris Duffy struck out, Valdez dropped his third hit into left field, chasing in Bocock and sending Thompson to third. Thompson then scampered home when Chiefs shortstop Eric Bruntlett had to settle for throwing out John Mayberry Jr. after his weak flair over the mound.

Mathieson, who escaped unscatched in the eighth despite giving up two hits and a walk when Orr lined into an inning-ending double play, set down the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Lehigh Valley took a 1-0 lead in the second on Cody Ransom's first homer of the year, but Carlos Maldonado put the Chiefs on top in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer off Joe Savery.

Trailing 3-1, the IronPigs rallied in the fifth on a two-run single by Chris Duffy and Valdez's RBI single up the middle.

From the Morning Call