The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, won their third game in a four-game set at Durham on Friday night with an 11-7 victory over the Durham Bulls. With the win, Syracuse improved to 11-1 in its last 12 games. Corey Brown’s eighth-inning RBI single gave the Chiefs a lead they would not relinquish, as Syracuse posted a season-high 18 hits in the game.
Syracuse (43-38) struck first against Durham right-hander Matt Buschmann, thanks to Brown. The center fielder slammed Buschmann’s second pitch of the game into the right field seats for a home run, Brown’s team-best 19th of the season. He’s currently second in the International League in home runs and first among active players. The home run also extended Brown’s hitting streak to a career-high 17 games.
But Durham (38-45) was quick to respond with a pair of first-inning runs against Syracuse starter and International League All-Star Zach Duke. After Rich Thompson’s leadoff single, shortstop Tim Beckham slammed a run-scoring double into the left-centerfield gap. He later scored from third base on an error by Syracuse shortstop Seth Bynum.
The Bulls added a third-inning run courtesy of Beckham. He led off the frame with a solo home run to right-center field for his first home run of the season, increasing the Bulls’ lead to 3-1.
Both teams would add a single tally in the fourth inning. Syracuse claimed its run when Bynum singled home Jarrett Hoffpauir with two outs. Durham scored when Thompson singled home Shawn O’Malley with one out.
The Chiefs then evened the score in the top of the fifth inning. Erik Komatsu was hit by a pitch to begin the frame, Jim Negrych singled and Chris Marrero walked to load the bases. After a fielder’s choice groundout from Xavier Paul, Carlos Rivero singled home Komatsu, cutting the lead to 4-3. The base hit extended Rivero’s season-best hitting streak to 17 games, tying him with Brown for the best mark among Chiefs players this year. Hoffpauir then scored Marrero on a sacrifice fly to left field.
In the seventh inning, Paul would ignite the Syracuse offense to break a 4-4 tie. Komatsu singled to lead off the frame and ended up moving to third base with two outs, when Paul slammed a 1-1 pitch from right-hander Bryan Augenstein over the wall to the left of dead center field. The home run, Paul’s seventh of the season, gave Syracuse a two-run lead.
But it wouldn’t last long, thanks to some long balls from the Bulls in the bottom of the frame. With one out, catcher Chris Gimenez launched a low fastball from Duke over the right-center field fence, ending the left-hander’s night. Southpaw Atahualpa Severino then entered, and designated hitter Stephen Vogt greeted him rudely with a blast to right field deep into the Durham night. The back-to-back home runs tied the game at six.
Syracuse then beared down for some clutch hits in the final two innings. In the eighth, Hoffpauir and Koyie Hill reached on singles to start the inning against left-hander Frank De Los Santos. After a Bynum strikeout, Brown lined a fastball in between shortstop and third base for a single. Hoffpauir raced home and scored when O’Malley couldn’t cleanly field the ball in left field, giving Syracuse a 7-6 lead.
The Chiefs continued to pile on in the top of the ninth. After a Negrych double started the inning, right-hander Shane Dyer replaced De Los Santos. But Marrero made Dyer pay with an RBI single to right field. Two batters later, Rivero drove in pinch-runner Mark Teahen with another run-scoring single to right field. Three batters after that, Bynum lined a two-strike pitch into the right field corner, plating Rivero and Jarrett Hoffpauir for a two-run double.
Right-hander Christian Garcia allowed an unearned run in an otherwise strong ninth inning, as Severino earned the win to improve to 3-0.
Syracuse next heads to Norfolk to begin a four-game series with the Tides on Saturday night at 7:15. Former Norfolk hurler Mitch Atkins will start for the Chiefs against Tides right-hander Miguel Gonzalez.
Courtesy: Syracuse Chiefs
