Chiefs beat Knights behind Lannan's shutout

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, beat the Charlotte Knights, 2-0, on Thursday night from Knights Stadium. Left-hander John Lannan tossed his second straight complete-game shutout, becoming the first Syracuse pitcher with two shutouts this season, in his final start of the season for the Chiefs. With the win, Syracuse claimed the season-series victory over Charlotte and won its third straight game over the Knights to close out a four-game set.

Syracuse (68-72) claimed all the offense it would need in the third inning against Knights left-hander Charlie Leesman. The Chiefs got a leadoff walk from Jesus Valdez and a single from Brett Carroll before Josh Johnson bunted each of the runners over one base. Jarrett Hoffpauir then hit a slow ground ball to the right side that turned into an infield single to first base when Charlotte's Dan Johnson had nowhere to throw. Center fielder Corey Brown followed with a sacrifice fly, giving the Chiefs a 2-0 lead.

That was all that Lannan would need, as the 27-year-old left-hander shut down Charlotte (80-60). The southpaw struck out a season-high 10 and scattered eight singles without walking a single Knights batter. Lannan wriggled out of jams in the fourth, sixth and ninth innings when the Knights put two runners on base in each frame, and he stranded eight total Charlotte base runners.

In the final inning, Greg Golson started the frame with a bunt single before a Johnson fly out and Brent Morel fielder's choice ground ball. After Josh Phegley's single extended the inning, Lannan struck out Jared Mitchell swinging, ending the game at 122 pitches.

The complete-game shutout was the second straight for the left-hander, who also aced Gwinnett on August 25. It's the third complete-game shutout for the Chiefs in six starts, after Jeff Mandel's performance on August 26 at Gwinnett, and their fourth in the month, after Zach Duke on August 11 at Lehigh Valley.

Syracuse will complete its nine-game road trip on Friday night when the Chiefs head to Lehigh Valley for a 7:05 game. Mandel is scheduled to throw for Syracuse against IronPigs right-hander Tyson Brummett.