Burriss, Laffey lead Chiefs in Sunday shutout

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, beat the Buffalo Bisons, 7-0, Sunday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. Shortstop Emmanuel Burriss went four-for-four with a home run, a double, two singles, a stolen base, and two RBIs.

Syracuse (50-33) struck first in the bottom of the first inning against right-hander Liam Hendriks. Burriss led the inning off with a walk on five pitches and stole second three pitches later. After a Jeff Kobernus groundout moved Burriss to third, designated hitter Steven Souza Jr. grounded out to shortstop Jonathan Diaz, scoring Burriss to put the Chiefs on the board, 1-0.

The Chiefs would score again in the bottom of the third inning against Hendriks. With one out in the inning, Burriss blooped a single to center field and Kobernus followed with a single to center field, with Burriss advancing to third on a fielding error by center fielder Kenny Wilson. Souza stepped up to the plate next and hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Adron Chambers to score Burriss and increase the Chiefs' lead to 2-0.

Syracuse would strike again in the bottom of the fourth inning against Hendriks. With one out in the inning, right fielder Destin Hood homered to left-center field for his fifth long ball of the year. Center fielder Brian Goodwin singled up the middle and third baseman Brandon Laird singled to left field to put two runners on. After a Will Rhymes fielder's choice, Emmanuel Burriss singled to center field to score Goodwin. Kobernus followed with a single to right field to score Rhymes and put the Chiefs up 5-0.

The Chiefs would tack onto their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning against right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx. Burriss lined a 3-2 pitch over the fence in right-center for his second home run of the year. The home run was Burriss's eighth career home run in his ninth year in professional baseball. Kobernus followed with a infield single to third baseman Jared Goedert. After a Souza flyout, first baseman Tyler Moore singled to left-center and Jhonatan Solano popped out. Hood kept the hit parade going with a single to score Kobernus for a 7-0 lead.

Left-hander Aaron Laffey was dominant for the Chiefs, throwing seven innings of three-hit ball and retiring 13 batters in a row to conclude his start. The win was Laffey's 10th of the year, making him the first 10-game winner in the International League.

The Chiefs are in action Monday night against the Bisons for game three of the four-game series with Buffalo at 7 p.m. Left-hander Zach Kroenke will take mound to take on right-hander Aaron Sanchez.