SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Chiefs took advantage of three miscues by the Gwinnett Braves and won the first game of the four-game series by a 2-0 score on Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium.
The sloppy play in the field, combined with a weak offensive attack, dropped the G-Braves to 1-4 against the Chiefs in 2015.
Atlanta Braves’ right-handed pitcher Williams Perez, who was making his first rehab start since he was placed on the disabled list with a left foot contusion on June 27, pitched a solid first inning, but in the second he was tagged with an unearned run.
With two outs and the bases empty, Caleb Ramsey hit a dribbler to the left of the mound. Perez fielded the ball but threw wildly to first, which enabled Ramsey to move to second base on a hit and an error. The next batter, Dan Butler, drilled a hot smash to third that was fielded cleanly by Adonis Garcia, but Garcia threw the ball away trying to get Butler at first. The throwing error allowed Ramsey to score from second to make it 1-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, with right-hander Vin Mazzaro making his first G-Braves’ appearance, Kevin Keyes pounded a ground-rule double to left-center field and moved to third on a groundout by Chris Nelson. Ramsey then walked to put runners on the corners but was thrown out by G-Braves’ catcher Christian Bethancourt trying to steal second. With Keyes still at third and two outs, Butler hit a ground ball to Daniel Castro. Castro threw the ball away at first as he tried to end the inning. Gwinnett’s third error of the night allowed Keyes to score for the eventual 2-0 final.
Perez (L, 2-1) pitched 2.1 innings with one hit, one unearned run and three strikeouts. Mazzaro worked 1.1 innings with two hits, one unearned run, one walk and one strikeout. Left-hander Hunter Cervenka went 1.1 innings with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts. Lefty Andrew McKirahan pitched 1.0 inning with one strikeout. Fellow left-hander Matt Marksberry worked 1.0 inning with one hit and one strikeout. Right-hander Peter Moylanwent 1.0 inning with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts.
Joe Ross (W, 3-1) pitched 5.0 innings with two hits and three strikeouts. Lefty Matt Grace (H, 7) worked 2.0 innings with two hits and one strikeout. Righty Rafael Martin (H, 4) went 1.0 inning with two strikeouts. Right-hander Jose Valverde (S, 9) also pitched 1.0 inning with two strikeouts.
At the plate, Gwinnett (45-46) was led by Jose Peraza who was 2-for-3 for his team-leading 31stmulti-hit game of the season.
Trea Turner went 2-for-4 to lead the Syracuse (36-57) offense.
The G-Braves and Chiefs will meet in game two of their series at 7:05 p.m. on Friday at NBT Bank Stadium. Right-handed starter Tyrell Jenkins (1-0, 0.00) will pitch for Gwinnett. The Chiefs will go with right-hander Taylor Hill (3-4, 4.92). Tony Schiavone has the call beginning at 6:30 p.m. on 97.7 FM and WSBRadio.com
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/7/323690/miscues-cost-g-braves-in-loss-to-chiefs