Chiefs fall 8-4 to Bisons, split series

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, fell to the Buffalo Bisons, 8-4, on Tuesday morning from NBT Bank Stadium. With the loss, the Chiefs split their four-game series with Buffalo.

Syracuse (37-28) got on the board right off the bat in the first inning off right-hander Deck McGuire. With one out, Zach Walters took the first pitch he saw over the right-field fence for a 1-0 Chiefs lead. Steven Souza, Jr. was then hit by a pitch from McGuire and stole second before Tyler Moore worked a walk. After a Destin Hood fly out, Jhonatan Solano doubled to the left-field corner, and Souza and Moore scored to give Syracuse a 3-0 lead.

Buffalo (31-31) scored a run in the fourth inning with one swing of the bat. With two outs, Dan Johnson homered to right field off Chiefs starter Brian Dupra to cut the Syracuse lead to two, 3-1.

The Chiefs responded in the bottom half of the fourth. Brian Goodwin led off and hit a solo home run to right field to extend the Syracuse lead back to three. Goodwin's now picked up a hit in six consecutive games.

The Bisons came right back with two runs in the fifth inning. With one out, Munenori Kawasaki singled. Mike Nickeas then walked to put runners on first and second for Kenny Wilson. The Bisons' right fielder tripled on a ball hit to the left-field corner, and Kawasaki and Nickeas scored to cut the Buffalo deficit to one.

Buffalo took the lead in the top of the sixth off Chiefs reliever Zach Jackson. Jared Goedert led off the inning with a solo home run to right field to tie the game, 4-4. Johnson then singled to put a runner on first for the Bisons with no outs. Three batters later, Kawasaki lashed a triple down the left-field line, giving the Bisons a one-run lead.

The Bisons extended their lead in the eighth inning off left-hander Ryan Mattheus.With Kawasaki on first base and one out, Nickeas hit a two-run home run to left field to extend the Buffalo lead to three. Wilson then reached first on an infield single. Right-hander Manny Delcarmen replaced Mattheus, and with Mastroianni up to bat, Wilson stole second and advanced to third after Emmanuel Burriss mishandled the throw from Solano for an error. Mastroianni then doubled, and Wilson scored for an 8-4 Bisons lead.

Syracuse returns to the field after an off day on Wednesday to begin a four-game set with the Norfolk Tides on Thursday at 7:00. Chiefs right-hander Ryan Tatusko and Tides right-hander Mike Wright are the scheduled starters