Winning streak snapped in Chiefs' 4-3 loss

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals had their nine-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night in a 4-3 loss to the Durham Bulls. The Chiefs scored three runs in the second inning to claim an early lead, but Durham plated one run in the fifth inning and three runs in the sixth to take a lead it would not relinquish.

Syracuse (41-38) got off on the right foot once more thanks to a trio of early runs charged to starting pitcher Alex Torres. The left-hander allowed three straight singles to begin the second inning. Mark Teahen and Jim Negrych reached on base hits, before Carlos Rivero extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI single, scoring Teahen for a 1-0 Chiefs lead. After a walk of Carlos Maldonado loaded the bases, Torres, who had been slated to throw just 30 pitches, exited the game with exactly 30 thrown. Right-hander Jhonny Nunez came in to face Brett Carroll, whose fielder's choice ground out to second base scored a second run. Corey Brown then hit a pop-up that landed in between left fielder Stephen Vogt and shortstop Reid Brignac for an RBI single, plating Rivero for the inning's third run.

But Durham's pitching would hold on from there, and the Bulls finally added some offense in the fifth inning against Syracuse starter Tanner Roark. With two outs, Rich Thompson singled and stole second base before a Jesus Feliciano walk. Henry Wrigley then hit a ground ball to first base that went off the heel of Chris Marrero's glove for an error, allowing Thompson to cross home plate with the Bulls' first run.

Durham (38-43) then took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Chris Gimenez was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, Tim Beckham singled with one out, and Cole Figueroa walked with two outs. Right-hander Erik Arnesen then entered to face Thompson with the bases loaded. The Durham right fielder responded with a ground-ball single to left field, scoring Gimenez to cut the lead to 3-2. With the bases still full, Feliciano hit a bouncing ball up the middle that snuck into center field for a two-run single, giving the Bulls a 4-3 lead.

Meanwhile, previously scheduled starter Lance Pendleton shut down the Chiefs' bats for four and two-thirds innings of relief. Left-hander Frank De Los Santos would enter to get the final out of the eighth inning and the first two outs in the ninth, before right-hander Dane De La Rosa closed the door shut for his eighth save of the season.

Syracuse will look to take the third game in a four-game set on Thursday night with a 7:05 start time in Durham. Right-handers Yunesky Maya (for Syracuse) and Jim Paduch (for Durham) are the scheduled starters.