Chiefs fall to Red Sox on Brown homer

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, fell to the Pawtucket Red Sox, 4-3, Monday night at NBT Bank Stadium. Syracuse scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but former Chief Corey Brown hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth to give the Red Sox their sixth straight win.

Pawtucket (56-48) struck first in the top of the first inning against left-hander Aaron Laffey. With one out in the inning, second baseman Jonathan Herrera singled up the middle and third baseman Will Middlebrooks walked to put two runners on. Two batters later, first baseman Alex Hassan singled to shortstop Emmanuel Burriss, who threw home to try and gun down Herrera, who was breaking for the plate. The throw was wide and advanced the runners to second and third base on the error. Left fielder Garin Cecchini then slapped a grounder to Burriss, who rushed the throw to first and pulled Brandon Laird off the bag at first, allowing Middlebrooks to score from third on the error.

The Red Sox added to their lead in the top of the fifth inning against Laffey. With one out in the inning, designated hitter Carlos Rivero crushed the 3-1 pitch from Laffey over the wall in left-center for a solo home run. The homer was Rivero's fourth of the year in Triple-A and made the score 3-0 Pawtucket.

Syracuse (60-43) tied the score in the bottom of the fifth inning against right-hander Allen Webster. Designated hitter Destin Hood led the inning off with a single to center field. Two batters later, catcher Sandy Leon hit a fly ball to right field that bounced off the top of the wall for a double, putting runners on second and third for Josh Johnson. The second baseman grounded out to Hassan, scoring Hood and putting the Chiefs on the board. Shortstop Emmanuel Burriss was next and singled to right field to score Leon. Left fielder Jeff Kobernus followed suit with a single to right field to score Burriss, who had stolen second base one pitch prior, and tied the game at three.

Pawtucket took the lead in the top of the ninth inning against right-hander Warner Madrigal. Brown led the inning off with a solo home run to right field. The home run was Brown's 14^th of the year and gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead.

The Chiefs tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth against right-hander Alex Wilson. With the Chiefs down to their final out, pinch hitter Tyler Moore doubled off the wall in left-center field, but Burriss grounded out to first base to end the game.  

The Chiefs wrap up their series with Pawtucket Tuesday at 7 p.m. Right-hander Blake Treinen is scheduled to take on right-hander Matt Barnes.