The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, beat the league-leading Pawtucket Red Sox, 11-7, on Monday night at Alliance Bank Stadium. The Chiefs scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the win.
Syracuse (33-37) got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning. Pawtucket pitcher Aaron Cook, making his first MLB rehab start since recovering from a knee injury, walked Chiefs leadoff man Corey Brown. Brown moved to third on a Brett Carroll single and scored on an RBI single from Xavier Paul.
Pawtucket (45-26) answered in the top of the fourth inning. Red Sox catcher Ryan Lavarnway snuck a home run just inside the left-field foul pole to knot the game up at one.
The Chiefs offense bounced back in the bottom of the frame. Carlos Rivero doubled with one out, Seth Bynum brought him home with a two-out single, and Bynum scored on a sharp single by Brown to put the Chiefs up 3-1.
Cook was bounced from the game after four innings, but the Chiefs wasted no time getting to PawSox reliever Tony Pena, Jr. in the fifth inning. Paul scored on a single from Rivero to give the Chiefs a 4-1 lead.
Pawtucket used the long ball again to score on Chiefs starter Yunesky Maya. Tony Thomas led off the top of the sixth inning with a double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Josh Kroeger drilled Maya’s offering over the right-field wall for a two-run homer. Still, the Chiefs led 4-3 after six.
A homer victimized the Chiefs one last time in the top of the seventh inning. Maya was lifted after allowing a single to Alex Hassan and walking Che-Hsuan Lin. Atahualpa Severino entered and allowed a three-run long ball to Nate Spears which gave the Red Sox a 6-4 lead.
The Chiefs snagged the lead back for good in the bottom of the inning. Erik Komatsu scored the first run of the frame on a laser-beam line-drive single from Carroll. Two batters later, Mark Teahen scored the tying run when Spears couldn’t handle a ground ball hit to third by Rivero. Jim Negrych followed with his first hit in 21 at-bats, driving home Carroll and Paul on a single to left to give the Chiefs the lead. Rivero capped the scoring when he came home on an error by Thomas at second base. In total, the Chiefs sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh, en route to scoring 5 runs and claiming a 9-6 lead.
Xavier Paul provided two insurance runs for the Chiefs in the bottom of the eighth inning. He drilled a two-run home run over the manual scoreboard in right-center field to give the Chiefs an 11-6 lead. Paul had three hits, scored three runs and drove in three runs on the night.
Pawtucket had one more threat left for the top of the ninth inning. Kroeger brought Thomas home with a sacrifice fly, before the Red Sox put runners on second and third with two outs. Christian Garcia entered for the Chiefs and struck out Lars Anderson to earn his first Triple-A save.
The Chiefs and PawSox meet again Tuesday night at Alliance Bank Stadium at 7:00. Zach Duke is scheduled to take the mound for Syracuse. Doug Mathis is set to pitch for Pawtucket.
Courtesy: Syracuse Chiefs
