MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Drop Wild Affair 7-6 in Clinton

Published on May 9, 2008 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Clinton, IA - The Peoria Chiefs dropped a back and forth game against the first-place Clinton LumberKings 7-6 Friday night at Alliant Energy Field. The loss sends the Chiefs to 10 games under .500 for the first time in five seasons at 12-22 with three games remaining on the 10-game road trip.

The Chiefs jumped on LumberKings hurler Jorge Quintero in the top of the first. Cliff Andersen reached on an infield single and moved to second on a groundout by Nate Samson. With the count at 2-0, Josh Donaldson rocketed a double off the right-field wall for a 1-0 lead as Andersen scored without a throw. Quintero recovered to pick Donaldson off second and strikeout Kyler Burke to end the inning. Clinton answered against Chiefs starter Hung-Wen Chen in the bottom of the first.

Engel Beltre singled up the middle to start the inning and Renny Osuna followed with a single to left. Beltre scored on a single by Tim Smith before Ian Gac popped out to shortstop. Chen then induced a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Mitch Moreland to end the inning.

Peoria wasted little time in regaining the lead. Marquez Smith led off with an infield single and scored on a double to the wall by Dylan Johnston. Johnston advanced to third on a wild throw home by Renny Osuna and scored on a balk by Quintero for a 3-1 lead. Clinton rallied to the lead in the fifth against reliever Craig Muschko. Miguel Alfonzo led off with a walked and with one down, Beltre singled to center. Osuna cut the Chiefs lead to 3-2 with a double to right and Smith put the LumberKings in front with a two-run triple. After a pop out, Moreland gave Clinton a 5-3 lead with a single to right before Muschko got out of the inning.

The Chiefs answered the LumberKings big inning with one of their own. With one out in the sixth, Jovan Rosa singled to left and Johnston followed with a single. Elvis Lara doubled to left-center as both runners scored for a 5-5 tie. Lara stole third and gave the Chiefs a 6-5 lead when he scored on a Marwin Gonzalez sacrifice fly. The first-place LumberKings refused to go away and again hit Muschko hard in the sixth. Jose Felix led off with a singled and moved to second on an infield hit by Alfonzo.

After a pair of outs, Osuna regained the lead for Clinton with a two-run triple to the right-field corner. Muschko got Smith to pop up and the Chiefs trailed 7-6 after six innings.

Chen gave up singles to the first three batters and then didn't give up another hit through four innings. He walked two and struck out three in the no-decision. Muschko (0-1) took the loss allowing six runs on seven hits over two innings out of the bullpen. The righty had allowed just four runs over 18 1/3 innings on the season before tonight's outing. Audy Santana tossed two shutout innings while allowing one hit and striking out one.

Player of the Game - Elvis Lara () - Lara continued his hot start with two hits in four at-bats Friday night. He entered the game batting .360 in eight starts and singled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Lara then doubled home two in the sixth to tie the game and he later stole a base and scored in the inning. Lara is now 10-for-25 on the road trip.

Notes... Elvis Lara has hit safely in eight straight and reached base in all nine games he has played...Peoria is now 6-2 when scoring five runs or more this season...The last time the Chiefs were more than nine games under .500 was in August 2003 when the Joe Cunningham-led squad was 61-72 heading into the final week of the season...The Chiefs have scored in the first inning in three of their last four games...Peoria is now 3-for-22 with the bases loaded this season...The double by Lara in the sixth was his first extra base hit this season after 10 straight singles...Andersen has two three-hit games on the road trip...The Chiefs will send RH Billy Muldowney (0-0, 3.35) to the hill Saturday at 7:00 PM against LH Derek Holland (2-0, 2.59) ...The game can be heard live beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 PM online at www.peoriachiefs.com or on WOAM 1350.

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Midwest League Stories from May 9, 2008


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