The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, lost their fourth straight game with a 4-1 defeat on Sunday afternoon to the Pawtucket Red Sox. The Red Sox scored all four of their runs in the first four innings, sending Syracuse back to two games under .500 on the final day before the All-Star break.
Pawtucket (51-41) plated runs in the second, third and fourth innings against Chiefs right-hander Yunesky Maya. In the second, a rally started quietly when Maya hit Andy LaRoche with one out. Right fielder J.C. Linares then followed with a gap-tracing triple into right-center field, scoring LaRoche for a 1-0 Red Sox lead.
In the third inning, the Red Sox added a second run courtesy of three straight one-out singles. Rehabbing center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, shortstop Jose Iglesias, and catcher Ryan Lavarnway collected the hits, with Lavarnway’s base hit to center field scoring Ellsbury.
Second baseman Nate Spears then blasted off against Maya in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and Linares at third base, Spears clobbered a 1-1 pitch down the line for his sixth home run of the season. That gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.
Syracuse (44-46) would collect its first and only run in the fifth inning against right-hander Brandon Duckworth. After a leadoff single by Seth Bynum and a Corey Brown groundout, designated hitter Jarrett Hoffpauir lined a run-scoring single to center field, plating Bynum. Mark Teahen followed with another single, but Duckworth ended the inning on a fly out from Chris Marrero and a line out from Jim Negrych.
The Chiefs left seven runners on base in the first five innings against rehabbing starting pitcher Clay Buchholz, who threw two and one-third innings, and Duckworth, who eventually earned the win with three and two-thirds frames of spotless relief. But Syracuse had just one base runner – a Seth Bynum single – after the fifth.
Syracuse will return to action on Thursday after the three-day All-Star break at 6:00 against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The Chiefs will resume a suspended game from April 10 before a second regularly scheduled game.
Courtesy: Syracuse Chiefs
