Bulls walk off against Chiefs in ninth

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, were outlasted 4-3 on Thursday night by the Durham Bulls. Desmond Jennings knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning with an RBI single. Syracuse took a 3-1 lead into the eighth but Justin Ruggiano's two-run home run off Adam Carr tied the game at 3. The loss marred a stellar performance by Chiefs lefthander Tommy Milone. Milone struck out eleven Bulls in seven innings, a season high for any Chiefs pitcher, while scattering four hits and one run.

Syracuse (9-17) plated a run in each of the first two innings thanks to a pair of doubles in the first and second frames. In the first, Corey Brown doubled to left field with one out and scored on a Tug Hulett two-bagger. One inning later, Jhonatan Solano came home on a Chris McConnell double to give the Chiefs a 2-0 advantage.

Each team's next run would score in a similarly unusual fashion. Durham (16-12) struck in the third inning when Ruggiano stole third base and scored on a throwing error by Solano. Roger Bernadina then crossed on a steal of third and a throwing error by Durham's catcher Robinson Chirinos in the fifth inning.

The Chiefs remained in the lead until the eighth, when Jennings' double and Ruggiano's home run squared the score at 3. In the ninth, Durham rallied with a Chirinos walk and Ray Olmedo infield single against Chiefs righthander Josh Wilkie. Jennings then drove a single through the left side of the infield for the game-winning hit.

Syracuse and Durham resume their series tomorrow at 7:05. Craig Stammen takes the hill for the Chiefs against Bulls righty Alex Cobb.