Chiefs post 7-3 victory to stay in the Wild Card race

Syracuse, N.Y. - The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, earned a 7-3 victory over the Rochester Red Wings Thursday night in their final regular season game at Alliance Bank Stadium. The Chiefs are now winners of five in a row, while the loss extends Rochester's losing streak to 11 games.

Syracuse jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with the help of two hits and a Rochester fielding error. Michael Martinez stayed hot with a single to left with one out. Martinez now has 14 hits in his last 27 at bats. Two batters later, Jason Botts slapped a single to center. Brandon Roberts bobbled the ball in the outfield, letting Martinez score all the way from first for the night's first run.

The Chiefs padded their lead with two more runs in the third. Jamie Burke, Boomer Whiting, Martinez and Brian Bixler all notched base hits off of Rochester starter Cole DeVries before DeVries finally got Botts to pop up to Matt Macri at third base for the inning's first out. Bixler's groundball single to center brought in two runs, giving him his 46th and 47th RBI of the year.

After Leonard Davis's fourth-inning homer put Syracuse ahead 4-0, the Wings chipped into the lead with a three-run fifth. Brendan Harris and Matt Macri followed Brock Peterson's leadoff walk with a pair of singles, loading the bases with nobody out. Peterson scored on a missed catch by the shortstop Martinez to cut it to 4-1. Later in the inning, Danny Lehmann lifted a double past Bixler in centerfield, plating Harris and Macri. Lehmann was thrown out at third trying to stretch his double into a triple. That 6-5 putout ended the inning.

Syracuse responded with two more in the next half inning. One run came across on Seth Bynum's groundball to third base. Brian Bixler came home on the play with Bynum reaching on the 5-4 fielder's choice. Bynum scored the other run on a Pete Orr groundout. Botts and Chase Lambin both recorded base hits in the frame.

Major league rehabber Ross Detwiler hurled five innings for the Chiefs to earn his first win. He gave up five hits and three runs (one earned) over 56 pitches. The lefty struck out two and walked a batter.

DeVries dropped to 0-2 with the loss. He went four innings for Rochester. DeVries allowed seven hits and five runs (four earned). He handed out two walks while striking out five.

The Chiefs will head to Rochester Friday to finish their season series with the Red Wings. Garrett Mock (0-1, 7.20) will make his second start for Syracuse against Rochester's Chris Province (0-1, 7.27). First pitch will be at 7:05.