6-2 loss snaps Chiefs' win streak

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, had their seven-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night in a 6-2 loss to the Columbus Clippers. Syracuse took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, but three home runs gave the Clippers a lead they would not relinquish.

After three and one-half innings of scoreless baseball, Columbus (19-20) got on the board with a fourth-inning run against Chiefs starter John Lannan. Andy LaRoche and Russ Canzler began the inning with singles against the left-hander. After a sacrifice bunt and fly out, Lannan fell behind Jason Donald 2-0 before intentionally walking the shortstop. With the bases loaded, center fielder Ezequiel Carrera then lined a single into right field. LaRoche scored, but Brett Carroll's throw to the plate was on target to gun down Canzler for the inning's final out.

Syracuse (18-22) responded loudly in the top of the fifth. Carlos Rivero singled and Xavier Paul walked to begin the inning, but Clippers left-hander Chris Seddon then recorded the next two outs before getting two strikes on Seth Bynum. However, the second baseman laced a single to left field, with Rivero scoring just ahead of the throw home from Matt LaPorta. Catcher Jeff Howell then punched a single into right field, scoring Paul to put the Chiefs ahead 2-1.

But Columbus answered with the long ball. LaPorta led off the fifth with a solo home run just over the 365-foot marker in left field for his 11th home run of the season. That evened the score at 2 runs apiece.

In the sixth, Canzler broke the tie. He slammed Lannan's first pitch of the inning deep over the right-center field fence, putting Columbus ahead 3-2. Four batters later, Carrera delivered a fatal blow, blasting a 1-0 pitch from Lannan off of the scoreboard for a three-run home run.

The inning was Lannan's last one of the game, with the left-hander allowing 11 hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out one while dropping his record to 3-4 on the season.

Meanwhile, right-handers Cody Allen and Frank Herrmann did their job out of the Columbus bullpen, tossing the final two and two-thirds innings to lead the Clippers to the win.

Syracuse will look to start a new win streak on Thursday night at 6:35 in the third game of a four-game series. Syracuse right-hander Mitch Atkins and Columbus right-hander Paolo Espino are the scheduled starters.