Stammen, Chiefs win third straight over Tides

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, finished off their first three-game winning streak this season with a 4-2 victory over the Norfolk Tides. Craig Stammen's strong season continued for the Chiefs with seven and two-thirds innings of two-run ball. Syracuse scored two runs in each of the third and sixth innings, and Stammen and Josh Wilkie provided more than enough pitching support for the victory.

Michael Aubrey got the scoring started for Syracuse (12-20) with a two-run double in the third inning. Aubrey's two-out hit was his first extra-base hit of the season and drove in Alex Valdez and Corey Brown. The Chiefs would add two more runs in the sixth inning. Brown and Aubrey led off the inning with singles before a Chris Marrero RBI single and Tug Hulett double-play ground ball to score a run.

Those runs were more than enough for Stammen, who shut down Norfolk (12-21) right from the start. The righthander tossed seven shutout innings before Blake Davis' pinch-hit home run in the eighth made it 4-2. After leadoff hitter Tyler Henson made it to third in the first, no Tides player made it to scoring position until Davis' home run. Wilkie would relieve Stammen immediately after and record the final five outs for his third save.

Syracuse goes for the four-game sweep Thursday afternoon at 12:15 PM. Yunesky Maya will take the hill for Syracuse against Norfolk lefthander Chris George.