The Syracuse Chiefs (43-53), the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, swept a doubleheader against the Buffalo Bisons (41-57) Wednesday at Alliance Bank Stadium. Corey Brown delivered the first win with an RBI single in the eighth for a walk-off 7-6 victory, and the Chiefs scored in each of the first five innings of game two to win the second 9-5.
In the first game, both teams' offenses put together rallies in the second. The Bisons went up 3-0 on four hits off Chiefs righty Yunesky Maya, but Syracuse answered in the bottom of the frame. The Chiefs batted around the order, tallying four hits and two walks to go in front 5-3. Syracuse tacked on one more run in the third when Chris Marrero scored on a wild pitch from Miguel Batista. But Buffalo pulled even in the fifth. Luis Hernandez ripped a bases loaded double to left field that scored two and put runners on second and third. Fernando Perez then knotted the game at 6-6 with a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat. From there, neither team moved a runner past second base through the top of the eighth, but a Buffalo error in the bottom of the frame proved costly for the Bisons. Tug Hulett hit a one-out pop up to right field, but Buffalo second baseman Hernandez dropped the ball, allowing Hulett to reach second. Corey Brown stepped up to batters later and grounded a single to right. The throw home sailed wide of the plate, and Hulett scored to deliver the Chiefs 7-6 walkoff win.
In the second game, Syracuse quickly built a big lead through three innings. Steve Lombardozzi tallied three RBI, Seth Bynum registered two, including a solo home run, and Brian Bixler added one more to give the Chiefs a 6-0 advantage after three. But that comfortable margin quickly disappeared in the fourth. Jesus Feliciano led off with a single just over a leaping Lombardozzi at shorstop. Valentino Pascucci and Jason Botts then ripped back-to-back bombs well over the right center field wall to cut the lead to 6-3. The Bisons added two more singles to put runners on first and second, and with two outs, Luis Figueroa knocked a double down the rightfield line to pull Buffalo within 6-5. But that rally didn't slow down the Chiefs on offense. After a Marrero double and a Matt Antonelli walk, Jhonatan Solano lined a double down the leftfield line that scored both runners to put Syracuse's lead back at 8-5. They added one more an inning later on a Marrero sacrifice fly to score in each of the first five innings. Reliever Ryan Tatusko closed out the game for the Chiefs, pitching the final three and a third innings. He gave up just one hit, a seventh inning single, and struck out four batter to get his second win of the year.
The Chiefs will look to sweep the series with the Bisons Thursday at 7:00 at Alliance Bank Stadium. Righty Craig Stammen will take the mound for Syracuse against Buffalo lefty Pat Misch.
**Courtesy Syracuse Chiefs**
