Brown, Roark lead Chiefs past Mud Hens

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, recovered from a walkoff loss with a 3-1 win over the Toledo Mud Hens on Monday afternoon. Corey Brown's first-pitch home run gave the Chiefs an immediate lead, and five Syracuse pitchers combined to hold Toledo to just one run on four hits.

For the second straight day, Brown opened the scoring for Syracuse (21-24) with a leadoff home run. The center fielder drilled Thad Weber's first pitch over the right-center field wall, staking the Chiefs to an early 1-0 lead. Brown extended his team-leading total to nine home runs on the season.

The teams then traded zeroes through the end of the fifth inning, with Syracuse right-hander Tanner Roark matching Weber pitch for pitch. Roark tossed five scoreless innings to earn his third win of the season and extend a stellar streak. Over his last three appearances, the right-hander has thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings, lowering his ERA from 5.70 to 3.89 over the span.

In the sixth inning, the Chiefs added a pair of huge insurance runs. Josh Johnson laid down a bunt single on the first pitch of the frame, with Brown following with a bunt down the third base line. Third baseman Audy Ciriaco fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw sailed into the stands for a two-base error, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Jarrett Hoffpauir then lined a sacrifice fly to center field, with Johnson scoring to extend the Syracuse lead to 2-0. Two batters later, Xavier Paul slammed a double into right field, scoring Brown for a third Chiefs run.

Toledo (23-22) scored its lone run in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Ciriaco reached first base on a strikeout and dropped third strike against right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx, who departed after a Bryan Holaday groundout. Atahualpa Severino then entered and walked Quintin Berry to put runners on first and second, and a double steal moved runners to second and third. Justin Henry's groundout to first base then scored Ciriaco, but Severino struck out Ryan Strieby to end the inning with no further damage.

Right-hander Rafael Martin tossed a scoreless eighth inning in just his second appearance in 12 games, and right-hander Hassan Pena cut down the Mud Hens in the ninth for his first save of the season.

Syracuse and Toledo will close out their series on Tuesday morning with another 10:30 start. The Chiefs will send right-hander Mitch Atkins to the mound against Mud Hens left-hander Andrew Oliver.