The Red Wings lost a close one to the Syracuse Chiefs 2-0 Saturday night at Frontier Field. Solid pitching by both teams dominated the game. The teams meet again Sunday afternoon for a 1:05 p.m. contest.
The Chiefs struck in the top of the third for the first of their two runs on the night. Adam Fox led the inning off with a single. He advanced to second on a groundball out, then stole third base and scored on a throwing error by Wings catcher Steve Holm.
Red Wings pitcher Ryan Mullins had a very respectable start. He pitched five innings, allowing just the unearned run over five hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. Mullins started the season on the disabled list, then pitched for Ft. Myers and New Britain before coming to the Wings. This was his first game for the Wings of the season.
But Chiefs starter Tom Millone was better. He pitched seven innings of scoreless ball, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out nine batters.
Mullins was relieved by Chuck James, who continued his brilliance this season. He pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out two. James as not allowed a run in his last 14 and a third innings of relief work, and has an overall ERA of 1.75. Anthony Slama also pitched well out of the pen for the Wings. He allowed just one unearned run on one hit over two innings of work.
The Wings attempted a rally in the bottom of the ninth, but ended up unsuccessful. Jason Repko led the inning off with a walk, which Ray Chang followed with a single. Rene Tosoni got both runners in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. After a groundout by Aaron Bates, Brian Dinkelman was intentionally walked to bring Jeff Bailey to the plate. But the intense at bat resulted in a long fly-ball to center, which ended the game
