The Syracuse Chiefs (49-64), the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, blasted three home runs en route to a 8-2 win over the Buffalo Bisons (48-67) Monday at Alliance Bank Stadium. Syracuse’s pitching held Buffalo scoreless over the final seven innings, and the Chiefs breezed to the big win. Buffalo got on the board first after an error by Chiefs shortstop Matt Antonelli in the first inning. He couldn’t handle a Luis Figueroa line drive, allowing the Bisons shortstop to reach with one out. The next batter, Josh Satin, launched a double to the warning track in left-center that scored Figueroa for the early 1-0 lead. It didn’t last long, though, as the Chiefs answered in the bottom of the frame. Roger Bernadina knocked a two-out single to right field followed by a Chris Marrero walk. Jesus Valdez then refused to let the inning end. He went 12 pitches deep in his at-bat before tagging a single to center that brought home Bernadina. Both teams added another run to put the score at 2-2 after three before Syracuse took over. With two outs in the fourth and Jhonatan Solano on first, Steve Lombardozzi crushed a home run into the family park beyond the right field fence to put the Chiefs up 4-2. The run continued in the fifth, when Marrero started the frame with a solo blast well over the left-center field wall. Tug Hulett and Corey Brown then hit back-to-back one-out singles, and Hulett stole third with Solano at the plate. Solano brought his teammate home with a sacrifice fly that put Syracuse up 6-2. Chiefs lefty Tommy Milone continued into the sixth inning before a Jason Botts single chased him from the mound. Garrett Mock took over with two outs, but a Hulett error kept the inning alive. Luis Hernandez’ pinch-hit single loaded the bases in the next at-bat, but Mock drew a Fernando Perez groundout to get out of the sixth unscathed. J.D. Martin stepped in to start the seventh and dealt two perfect innings before the Chiefs added an exclamation point in the bottom of the eighth. Bisons lefthander Taylor Tankersley stepped to the mound and walked Lombardozzi to start the frame. Antonelli then stepped up and crushed the Syracuse’s third home run of the game to left-center. That put the Chiefs up 8-2 headed to the ninth, and that would be more than enough to secure the win. Buffalo’s first two batters did reach on a single and a walk, but Martin struck out the next batter and induced a game-ending double play to earn the save. The Chiefs and Bisons resume their series at Tuesday at Alliance Bank Stadium at 7:00. Righty Yunesky Maya will take the mound for Syracuse against Buffalo lefty Mark Cohoon.
Courtesy: Syracuse Chiefs
