Chiefs fall to Yankees in series finale

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, lost to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 6-4, Monday night in Syracuse. The Yankees scored five runs in the seventh and eighth innings to break open a tie game.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (69-54) got on the board first in the top of the second inning. With one out, Brandon Laird and Austin Romine singled off Chiefs starter John Lannn to put runners on first and second base. After Melky Mesa flew out to center field, Lannan walked Darnell McDonald to load the bases and issued Ramiro Pena a free pass to force home Laird and hand the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

After three scoreless innings, Syracuse (60-64) evened the score in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sandy Leon blasted Michael O'Connor's 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field for a solo home run. Leon's first career Triple-A homer made the score 1-1.

The Yankees snagged the lead back for good, though, in the top of the seventh inning. Romine singled to lead off the inning against Lannan. One out later, McDonald walked to put runners on first and second base. Lannan was taken out of the game and replaced by Hassan Pena. Ramiro Pena greeted the Syracuse reliever with a run-scoring line-drive single to right-center field that gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead. With two outs, Corban Joseph singled up the middle to drive home McDonald for Scranton's third run.

Over his six and one-third innings, Lannan allowed just three Yankee hits and three earned runs, but he was still saddled with his 11th loss of the season.

The Chiefs mounted a two-out threat in the bottom of the seventh inning, loading the bases on singles by Leon and Josh Johnson and a walk by Jim Negrych. Reliever Corey Wade entered for the Yankees and escaped the jam by getting Eury Perez to bounce into a fielder's choice.

Then, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre broke the game wide open in the top of the eighth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Kevin Russo placed a three-run double down the left-field line. Laird, McDonald, and Pena scored to extend the Yankee lead to 6-1.

Those insurance runs would loom large in the bottom of the ninth inning. Negrych drilled a three-run home run to right-center field to cut the Chiefs deficit to 6-4, but Wade retired Eury Perez to end the game and pick up a seven-out save.

Syracuse starts a four-game series against Toledo Tuesday night at Alliance Bank Stadium at 7:00. Jeff Mandel is scheduled to start for the Chiefs. Casey Crosby will pitch for the Mud Hens.