IL1 Syracuse Mets

Early Lead Disappears in Chiefs' Loss to Red Sox

July 17, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Syracuse Mets News Release


The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, saw an early 2-0 lead evaporate in a 8-3 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox on Tuesday night from McCoy Stadium. After the Red Sox scored their first run in the fifth inning, Pawtucket scored six times in the sixth inning to break the game open. The loss was the ninth straight for the Chiefs, who have gone 1-14 in their last 15 games.

Syracuse (44-52) claimed a pair of runs in the third inning to break an early scoreless tie. With one out against right-hander Doug Mathis, catcher Carlos Maldonado walked before designated hitter Koyie Hill hit a line drive off of Mathis that trickled out to shortstop. Jose Iglesias then attempted to cut down Maldonado at second base, but threw the ball into right field for an error, enabling Maldonado to move to third and Hill to second. Center fielder Corey Brown followed up by lining a 2-0 pitch into center field for a two-run single, scoring both runners to give the Chiefs an early lead.

Meanwhile, right-hander Yunesky Maya tossed four scoreless innings before running into some trouble in the fifth. Right fielder Alex Hassan singled to lead off the inning, and second baseman Nate Spears singled after a groundout. With runners on the corners, Iglesias lofted a sacrifice fly to right field, cutting the score to 2-1.

Pawtucket (54-44) then took the lead and subsequently broke the game open in the sixth inning. Catcher Ryan Lavarnway began the inning with a blast, taking Maya deep for a solo home run to left field, tying the score at two. After a Lars Anderson fly out, Andy LaRoche walked, J.C. Linares singled and Hassan walked to load the bases. Center fielder Che-Hsuan Lin then untied the game with a single to center field, scoring LaRoche for a 3-2 lead. Syracuse manager Tony Beasley then called on right-hander Hassan Pena from the bullpen to face Spears, who smashed Pena's first pitch into the left-center field gap for a bases-clearing triple. The hit gave Pawtucket a 6-2 lead, and the next batter, Iglesias, extended it with an RBI single.

The Chiefs would bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning in one last rally. Third baseman Carlos Rivero slammed a fly ball up against the left field wall that Scott Podsednik couldn't handle on a play ruled a two-base error. After a Brett Carroll single and Maldonado walked, right-hander Will Inman relieved Mathis. Inman induced a line out from Hill before throwing a run-scoring wild pitch, but he recovered to strike out Brown. After a Josh Johnson walk loaded the bases, bringing up Jim Negrych as the tying run, Inman ended the inning by striking out Negrych, keeping the score at 7-3.

Pawtucket added a seventh-inning insurance run when Hassan was hit by a Pena pitch with the bases loaded.

Syracuse and Pawtucket will battle in the third game of a four-game series on Wednesday night at 7:05. Chiefs right-hander Jeff Mandel and Red Sox righty Billy Buckner are the scheduled starters.

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