Chiefs sweep Bulls, win sixth straight

The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, beat the Durham Bulls, 8-5, on Thursday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. Outfielder Destin Hood collected three hits and batted in two runs. The Chiefs finished their eight-game homestand with a 7-1 record.

Syracuse (18-15) got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Brock Peterson singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Brandon Laird fly out. Peterson moved to third on a Destin Hood groundout. A Brian Goodwin base hit scored Peterson for a 1-0 Chiefs lead.

Syracuse added to its lead in the fourth. Brock Peterson was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Back-to-back singles by Laird and Hood loaded the bases. Goodwin then worked a walk to score Peterson for the second Chiefs run of the game. After a Jose Lozada strikeout, Jeff Howell singled to score Laird and Hood to put Syracuse up 4-0, but the Chiefs weren't done in the inning. Emmanuel Burriss singled to load the bases once again. With the bases full, Will Rhymes hit the ball to Jerry Sands at first base. Sands tried to get the force out on Burriss at home but the throw was errant, all the runners were safe, and the Chiefs had a 5-0 lead.

Durham (20-15) finally got a run in the fifth inning. Syracuse starting pitcher Aaron Laffey walked Justin Christian and Cole Figueroa to lead off the inning. Curt Casali then singled to load the bases for Mike Fontenot. Fontenot grounded into a force out, but Christian scored to make it 5-1 in favor of the Syracuse.

The Chiefs responded in the bottom half of the inning. Peterson and Laird singled to put runners on first and second. Hood then doubled to left field to score Peterson and Laird for a 7-1 Syracuse lead. Hood advanced to second on a Goodwin fly out and then scored on a Lozada sacrifice fly for an 8-1 lead.

The Bulls tried to close the gap in the top of the sixth. Kevin Kiermaier singled and Mikie Mahtook double to put runners on second and third. Kiermaier scored on a Sands sacrifice fly to cut the Chiefs lead to six.

Durham added three runs in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, Sands led off with a double and advanced to third on a Wilson Betemit fly out. After a Christian walk, Sands scored on a Figueroa base hit to cut the Chiefs lead to five. In the ninth, Ray Olmedo led off with a single. Kiermaier then homered to make the score 8-5, but it wasn't enough as the Chiefs claimed their first series sweep since last July.

Syracuse begins an eight-game road trip on Friday night at Columbus. Syracuse right-hander Taylor Hill is scheduled to start against Columbus left-hander T.J. House. Game time is set for 7:15.