Chiefs drop series opener to Tides

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, lost the opener of a four-game set to the Norfolk Tides, 8-2, on Thursday evening. Syracuse surrendered four runs in the second inning and never led as the Chiefs dropped their fourth straight game.

Norfolk (18-9) broke the game open early with that four-run rally in the second against Chiefs starter Ryan Perry. Lew Ford doubled to start the inning before advancing to third base on a Travis Ishikawa single. Two batters later, Jonathan Schoop plated the inning's first run with a ground-ball single to left field. Catcher Chris Robinson followed that with a double blasted off the right-field wall, scoring Ishikawa for a 2-0 lead. Center fielder Jason Pridie would later finish the frame's scoring off with a two-run single to center field.

The Tides added a fourth-inning run with the first of two home runs from Travyon Robinson. Norfolk's left fielder smashed a first pitch from Perry over the right-field fence, extending the lead to 5-0.

Norfolk then knocked Perry out of the game in the following frame, plating a pair of fifth-inning runs. Ford led off the inning with a single before Ishikawa and Yamaico Navarro walked, loading the bases for Schoop. Right-hander Ryan Tatusko then replaced Perry and walked Schoop to force in the game's sixth run, before Trayvon Robinson's infield single, two batters later, knocked in another.

Syracuse (9-17) still had some life in its bats, scoring two runs in the sixth inning against Tides starter Jake Arrieta. Eury Perez started the sixth by dropping down a bunt single before advancing to second base on a Jeff Kobernus groundout. Second baseman Will Rhymes then blooped a double down the left-field line, scoring Perez for the Chiefs' first run. Two batters later, Micah Owings' sharp single to left drove in Rhymes, cutting the Norfolk lead to 7-2.

That was all the Chiefs would get, however, against Arietta and a pair of Norfolk relievers. The Tides, meanwhile, added an eighth-inning run thanks to a second home run from Trayvon Robinson, accounting for the game's final score.

The Chiefs and Tides will resume their series at 7:05 on Friday night. Syracuse left-hander Danny Rosenbaum, who sports the league's second-best ERA at 1.14, will throw against Tides right-hander Jair Jurrjens.