The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, came back from an early 3-0 deficit but fell in 11 innings to the Toledo Mud Hens 4-3 on Saturday night. Clete Thomas' walkoff bases-loaded single off of Josh Wilkie gave Toledo its fifth win in five games against Syracuse this season.
Toledo (51-58) struck early against Chiefs starter Garrett Mock, who appeared in his first Triple-A game since April 21. In the first inning, the Mud Hens put two runners on when Will Rhymes and Timo Perez singled. Ryan Strieby then knocked in his 66th run of the year with a single past Mock into center field. Two batters later, a Scott Thorman force out scored Perez to give Toledo a 2-0 lead.
The Mud Hens would add to that lead in the third inning courtesy of Brandon Inge. Toledo's third baseman launched a home run deep over the left field wall to make it 3-0. Inge now has four home runs in 12 Triple-A games this season.
Syracuse (47-59) scored first in the fourth inning against Mud Hens starter Adam Wilk. Chris Marrero walked, went to third on a Seth Bynum single, and scored when Tug Hulett singled him home. Wilk would hold the Chiefs to only that run in his six innings while giving up four hits, walking two, and striking out six.
The Chiefs would rally in the seventh inning against the Toledo bullpen. Syracuse loaded the bases against Lester Oliveros on a Hulett walk, Jeff Frazier single, and Carlos Maldonado walk. Corey Brown then singled to right field, scoring Hulett and keeping the bases loaded. Right-hander Enrique Gonzalez then entered to face Steve Lombardozzi. On a 3-2 pitch, Lombardozzi lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Frazier and tie the game. The inning came to an end when Brown was picked off first base in a 3-3 tie.
Toledo was held to three runs thanks to some stellar relief from Collin Balester. The right-handed reliever threw four scoreless, one-hit innings, while striking out six and walking none. Zech Zinicola backed up Balester with two and two-thirds scoreless innings, with Atahualpa Severino collecting the final out of the tenth inning.
The teams traded zeroes until the eleventh, when Wilkie came on in relief for the Chiefs. Perez walked to lead off the inning and Jeff Salazar singled him to second with one out. After Scott Thorman worked a one-out walk, Argenis Diaz popped out to Marrero in foul territory. Thomas then stepped up and lined Wilkie's 0-2 pitch to deep left-center field, ending the game.
The Chiefs and Mud Hens resume their series with the second of four games tomorrow. Right-hander Craig Stammen is scheduled to start for Syracuse.
**Courtesy Syracuse Chiefs**
