MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Lee, Struck Help Chiefs To 10-0 Win at Fort Wayne Monday

Published on July 21, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Fort Wayne, IN - Hak-Ju Lee led an 18-hit, 10-run attack while missing the cycle by a double in the Peoria Chiefs 10-0 domination of the defending Midwest League Champion Fort Wayne TinCaps on Wednesday night. The win, their sixth in the last seven games, improves the Chiefs to 48-44 on the season as they start a six-game roadtrip.

The Chiefs wasted no time in getting to TinCaps starter Jerry Sullivan. Lee tripled to right-center on the second pitch of the game and scored easily as Logan Watkins followed with a triple of his own. Matt Cerda made it 2-0 with a RBI groundout before Justin Bour reached on an error. DJ Fitzgerald singled and he and Bour both moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Nelson Perez made it 5-0 with easily the Chiefs longest home run of the season. The mammoth blast cleared the right-field wall, concourse party area and landed on the Treetops section party area under the scoreboard that is connected to the Parkview Field Parking Garage.

With one out in the second the Chiefs added to their lead as Lee crushed a solo homer to right-field. The homer, his first since last August, put the Chiefs up 6-0 and gave Lee the two hardest legs of the cycle.

Meanwhile, Nick Struck was in cruise control again for the Chiefs. He allowed a single in the first before Jeudy Valdez was caught stealing second. The TinCaps got another single with one out in the second and a walk in the third before Struck retired nine straight batters, four via strikeout.

The Chiefs blew the game wide open against Jason Adams in the fourth. Luis Flores led off with a single and with two down Watkins drew a walk. Cerda's 13th double of the season scored Flores and Watkins for an 8-0 Chiefs lead. Bour followed with his own double for a 9-0 lead before the TinCaps got out of the inning.

Lee singled in the fifth to load the bases for his third hit of the game and came to the plate twice needing a double for the Chiefs' first cycle since 1999. In the seventh he reached on an infield single for his fourth hit of the game and he walked on four pitches in the ninth.

The Chiefs went up 10-0 in the eight when Bour singled, moved to second on a Fitzgerald single, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a groundout by Perez. The Chiefs finished off the shutout with three scoreless innings by Danny Keefe and Steven Grife.

Struck (4-8) threw his fourth straight quality start with just two hits allowed over six shutout innings. He walked two and struck out six while lowering his ERA to 3.36 on the season. Keefe allowed two hits and struck out one over two innings while Grife allowed one hit in the ninth.

Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Hak-Ju Lee (SS) - Lee tripled on the second pitch of the game and homered in the second inning. He added two singles and drew a ninth inning walk to finish 4-for-5 with a Chiefs season-high nine total bases. Lee leads the team with 56 runs scored and also drove in a run while falling a double shy of the cycle.

Notes The Chiefs, who beat Bowling Green 5-0 Saturday and 9-0 Sunday have recorded shutouts in three of their last four gamesPeoria has at least 10 hits in five straight gamesThe 18 hits were a season high as were the seven extra-base hitsThe previous season high for extra base hits was seven on Wednesday against Dayton and the Chiefs had four previous games with 16 hitsWatkins leads the team with six triplesPerez has three four-RBI games this seasonThe Chiefs homered in three straight innings from the 9th inning Monday through the second inning WednesdayLee's last homer was August 13, 2009 for BoiseHe is hitting .556 (15-for-27) since returning from the Futures Game with two four-hit games and a five-hit gameIn six games Lee has raised his average from .261 to .287The last Chiefs cycle was by Troy McNaughton against Beloit on May 23, 1999Struck has gone exactly six innings in four straight starts and leads the team with five quality starts on the seasonHe has allowed two earned runs in 24 innings for a 0.75 ERA in four July startsStruck has allowed 13 hits while walking just three and striking out 22 in those four July startsWednesday was his first road win of the season and his careerFitzgerald collected his second four-hit game of the seasonBour leads the team with 57 RBIEvery Chief had a hit except for right-fielder Jae-Hoon HaOver their last five games the Chiefs have scored 39 runs on 58 hitsThe Chiefs have scored 10 runs in three of their last seven gamesPeoria tied a season-high with a 10 run victory, matching a 12-2 win from June 20 against Quad CitiesPerez has 16 homers in his Chiefs career, five this season and 11 in 2009The 16 homers puts him just outside the top 20 on the Chiefs career list while he is now 12th on the career list with 176 strikeoutsFort Wayne leads the league in errors and allowed two unearned runs Wednesday nightParkview Field opened in April 2009 and the Chiefs are 3-1 all-time in the newest MWL stadiumThe three-game series continues Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Eastern Time The Chiefs will start RH Ryan Searle (4-4, 4.39) against a yet to be announced TinCaps hurlerThe broadcast can be heard starting with the pregame show at 5:50 p.m. Central Time on 96.5 ESPN and www.peoriachiefs.comContact: Nathan Baliva Ph: 309.680.4018 Fax: 309.680.4080 nathanb@chiefsnet.com

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Midwest League Stories from July 21, 2010


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