Syracuse frustrates IronPigs with another comeback win

FROM THE MORNING CALL

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The IronPigs opened the season by watching Syracuse come from behind to win two of the season's first three games at Alliance Bank Stadium.

Sunday night they watched the Chiefs do it again in the finale of the season series between the two teams.

Andy Tracy's two-run first-inning homer gave the IronPigs the early advantage but Michael Martinez's RBI double later capped a two-run seventh inning that gave Syracuse a 3-2 win over Lehigh Valley, handing the IronPigs their sixth loss in seven games.


It was the seventh comeback win this year over the IronPigs for Syracuse (70-65), which kept its flickering wild-card playoff hopes alive. The victory gave the Chiefs a 12-4 advantage in the season series against Lehigh Valley (53-83), including a 7-2 advantage in the nine games between the two decided by one run.

Vance Worley (1-3) allowed one hit over the first six innings, a leadoff triple by Boomer Whiting in the fourth that led to a run on a groundout. But an error by Greg Dobbs on Wilson Ramos' leadoff single in the seventh helped lead to Syracuse's winning rally.

With pinch-runner Yuneski Maya on second after the error, Worley got Seth Bynum on a grounder to short that would've been a double-play grounder. Instead, Maya moved to third on a wild pitch, then scored on Pete Orr's single to tie the game. Martinez followed with his game-winning double to left.

The IronPigs, who had two baserunners aboard in the third and sixth inning without scoring, put two on in the eighth on singles by Andy Tracy and Paul Hoover, But Ozzie Chavez chased an outside breaking ball to strike out on a 3-2 pitch from Atahualpa Severino (5-1) to end the inning.

The IronPigs also put the tying run at second with two outs when Rich Thompson singled and stole second. But Dobbs went after a 3-0 pitch from Adam Carr and flied out to right to end the game.

Tracy's homer was his 19th, moving him within one of his fifth straight 20-homer season in the minors and eighth in nine years. The only season he hasn't hit 20 or more homers in a minor league season since 2002 was in 2005, when he played just 12 games for Colorado Springs before leaving to play in Japan.

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