4/14 SWB Yankees Win Their Home Opener In Syracuse
By: Colin Riccobon
Updated: April 15, 2012
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (4-5) won its third straight game and picked up a win in its "home opener," dropping the Syracuse Chiefs (2-7) 6-3 at Alliance Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees improved to 4-2 in home opening games since moving to Northeast Pennsylvania following the 2006 season and pulled to within one game of .500 overall.
The Yankees did not have much success against Syracuse starter Zach Duke (LP, 1-1) in his first start against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday night. Duke blanked the Yankees over 6.0 innings on Monday night allowing just four hits with four strikeouts and one walk as the Chiefs picked up a 6-5 win. Duke's success did not carry over to his second start against the Yankees as they picked up five runs off the left hander over his 5.0 innings jumping off to the lead with two in the first inning and one each in the second, fourth and fifth.
With two outs in the first inning Steve Pearce worked a walk and was plated on a RBI double to center by Jack Cust. Dewayne Wise continued his tear since being activated off the temporarily inactive list as he double to right and the Yankees led 2-0. The lead grew to 3-0 in the bottom of the second with Kevin Russo's RBI single scoring Colin Curtis who led off the second with a double.
SWB starter Adam Warren (WP, 1-1) was roughed up by Syracuse in his first start of the season on Monday night as he allowed six runs on six hits in the first two innings combined. The right hander fared much better Saturday afternoon retiring the first six hitters he faced before the Chiefs scored twice in the third inning to cut the lead to 3-2. Mark Teahen led off the inning with the first hit of the game for Syracuse doubling into the left field corner and scoring on Carlos Rivero's RBI single cutting the lead to 3-1. After the Chiefs loaded the bases off Warren, Seth Bynum bounced into a 6-4-3 double play scoring the second run of the inning to make it 3-2.
The Yankees kept chipping away against Duke adding single runs in the fourth and the fifth inning to extend the lead back to two runs. Curtis led off the fourth with his first triple of the season and scored on a one out single from Doug Bernier, who finished the day going 3-3 with a double and an RBI and the lead was 4-2. In the fifth inning, Wise took Duke out to right for his third homer of the season with one out in the fifth inning giving the Yankees a 5-2 advantage. Wise finished the day 2-4 with a double and a home run and has eight extra base hits for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in five games.
Warren's day was done after 6.2 innings allowing seven hits and two runs (both earned), with two walks and one strikeout. The right hander snapped a streak dating back to 2011 where he lost seven consecutive decisions. It was his first win since June 20, 2011 a victory of Norfolk at PNC Field.
The Yankees and Chiefs traded runs in the eight inning with Syracuse scoring on Jhonathan Solano's RBI double pulling Syracuse to within two at 5-3. SWB extended the lead back to three on a sacrifice fly from Russo in the bottom of the inning for a 6-3 advantage.
Cody Eppley (SV, 1) pitched a perfect ninth striking out two for his first save of the season.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Syracuse wrap up the two game series on Sunday afternoon at Alliance Bank Stadium against the Syracuse with a 2:00 PM first pitch.
