Burriss, Chiefs beat Braves on Sunday

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, beat the Gwinnett Braves, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon from NBT Bank Stadium. Syracuse shortstop Emmanuel Burriss collected four hits and two RBIs en route to the win.

Syracuse (62-47) got on the board first in the second inning. With one out, Sandy Leon singled to right field. Leon moved to second on a Jeff Kobernus groundout. Josh Johnson then doubled into the right-center field gap, scoring Leon for a 1-0 Chiefs lead.

Gwinnett (48-61) came back with a run in the top of the third inning. Treinen hit Steven Lerud with a pitch to lead off the inning. After an Edward Salcedo pop out, Aaron Northcraft sacrificed Lerud over to second with a bunt. Jose Constanza then singled to center field to score Lerud and tie the game at one.

The Chiefs responded with a run in the bottom half of the third with one swing of the bat. With two outs, Steven Souza Jr. hit a solo home run over the left-center-field fence to give Syracuse a 2-1 advantage.

Syracuse extended its lead in the fourth inning. Leon led off with another base hit to right field. With Kobernus at the plate, Leon advanced to second on a Northcraft wild pitch. Kobernus struck out looking, but Johnson walked to put runners on first and second. After Treinen struck out, Burriss singled to right field to score Leon for a two-run Chiefs lead.

The Braves cut the Chiefs' lead to one in the sixth. Elmer Reyes led off with a single to right field. Tyler Pastornicky then doubled to right field to put runners on second and third with no outs. After a Joey Terdoslavich strikeout, Brandon Boggs hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Reyes and cut the Syracuse lead to one, 3-2.

The Chiefs picked up a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning off Braves reliever Atahualpa Severino. With one out, Kobernus worked a walk. With Johnson batting, Severino made an errant throw to first on a pickoff attempt, and Kobernus advanced to second base. Johnson then walked to put runners on first and second. With Will Rhymes batting, Kobernus stole third base and Johnson stole second. Rhymes then singled to left field to score Kobernus and move Johnson to third base as Syracuse extended its lead to two. Johnson scored on the next play on a Burriss bunt single for a 5-2 Syracuse lead.

Syracuse goes for a series split with Gwinnett on Monday. Right-hander A.J. Cole will start on the mound for the Chiefs against Braves right-hander Kanekoa Texeira. First pitch is set for 12:00 noon.