MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Get Blasted Out of Clinton to Finish Series

Published on August 24, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Clinton, IA - The Peoria Chiefs committed four errors, allowed three home runs and left the bases loaded with three straight outs in the seventh inning in a crushing 10-5 loss to the Clinton LumberKings on Tuesday night. The loss, their third in a row to end the series, leaves the Chiefs five games behind Clinton for the top second-half playoff spot and 3 games out of the Wild Card with 15 to play. The Chiefs are 25-28 on the half and 63-59 on the season.

The Chiefs fell behind in the first without allowing a hit. James Jones reached to start the inning on an error by Justin Bour at first base and he moved to second on a one-out error by Hak-Ju Lee at shortstop. With two on, Luis Flores committed a passed ball to move Jones to third and Vince Catricala hit a sacrifice fly to right for a 1-0 Clinton lead.

Clinton added to their lead on more Chiefs miscues in the third behind starter Brett Wallach. Nick Franklin reached on a bunt single and moved to third on a double to center by Mickey Wiswall. Catricala singled to right for a 2-0 lead and another passed ball on Flores plated Wiswall for a 3-0 game. Tim Morris doubled to center and it looked like the Chiefs would get and out at the plate on the play as Anthony Giansanti hit Lee with the cutoff throw. Lee's throw home was in time to get Catricala but Flores dropped the ball for an error and a 4-0 LumberKings lead.

The Chiefs finally took advantage of a Clinton error to cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth. With one out and a runner on first, Jae-Hoon Ha lifted a flyball to deep left. Luis Nunez and Ryan Royster didn't communicate as they collided and Nunez dropped the ball for a two-base error. Nelson Perez took advantage with a two-run single to right to put the Chiefs down 4-2.

Clinton got one back in the bottom of the inning as Royster doubled and was sacrificed to third by Gabriel Noriega. Jones delivered a sacrifice fly to deep center as Royster scored easily for a 5-2 advantage. Clinton made it 6-2 in the sixth against Ronny Morla after Giansanti lost a ball off the bat of Royster in the lights for a triple. Morla's 12th wild pitch of the season allowed Royster to score for a 6-2 LumberKings lead.

Peoria loaded the bases in the seventh without a hit as 26-year old starter Tom Wilhelmsen hit two and walked one. Stephen Pryor relieved Wilhelmsen with the tying run at the plate and nobody out. Lee struck out looking on a questionable call and then got Logan Watkins swinging for the second out. Matt Cerda flew out to center and the Chiefs left them loaded.

Clinton took immediate advantage as Wiswall crushed the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh over the right-field fence for his fourth home run of the season and a 7-2 lead. Catricala followed with a drive down the left-field line that looked foul to everyone except home plate umpire Taro Hamano who called it fair for a solo home run. The blast, Catricala's 16th of the season, gives him five homers against the Chiefs this season and two in as many days. The inning didn't end there as Blake Ochoa reached on an error by Bour at first with one out and scored on a long home run to left-center by Matt Cerione for a 10-2 Clinton lead.

The Chiefs closed the scoring in the ninth as Geroge Matheus walked to start the inning against Nolan Gallagher. Watkins followed with a single and Cerda crushed his fourth homer of the season down the right-field line to cut the score to 10-5.

Wallach (6-2) allowed five runs, three earned on six hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out three. Morla allowed five runs, four earned on five hits and three home runs over a 1 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out one and threw a wild pitch. Danny Keefe threw 1 2/3 shutout innings and allowed one hit.

Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Nelson Perez (LF) - Perez extended his hitting streak to 10 games going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. Perez now has nine multi-RBI games this season.

Notes

Nelson Perez has a 10-game hit streakLogan Watkins extended his hit streak to eight games with a ninth inning singleCerda now has 70 RBI and 17 multi-RBI games, both are second on the roster behind BourBour committed two of the Chiefs four errorsMorla leads the team with 12 wild pitchesPeoria is 0-5 is Wallach's five starts since he was acquired from the Dodgers at the trade deadlineFlores had not committed a passed ball in 31 games this season before allowing two on Tuesday nightThe Chiefs are 5-11 against Clinton this season and finish with a 2-5 mark at Alliant Energy FieldThe two teams will play five games in Peoria August 28-31Peoria is 16-24 in the final game of a series this season and 8-12 on the roadthe Chiefs are 19-19-2 in series this year with a 7-12-1 mark in road seriesDJ Fitzgerald missed his third straight game while returning to Virginia after the passing of his grandmother, he is expected to rejoin the Chiefs on Wednesday at homeClinton comes to O'Brien Field next Saturday for a five-game seriesThe Chiefs now return home for the final homestand of the season, a nine game stretch over seven days against Cedar Rapids and ClintonThe homestand starts with a Wednesday double header against Cedar Rapids at 5:00 p.m. with both games scheduled for seven inningsThe first game is a makeup of a rainout in Cedar Rapids on July 12All fans get FREE hot dogs & peanuts courtesy of Vienna Beef starting at the completion of the first gameWednesday is also Infamous Illinoisans NightThe Chiefs will start RH Ryan Searle (6-6, 4.20) in game one against Kernels LH Buddy Boshers (2-0, 4.84)Game two will match Chiefs LH Jeff Lorick (0-0, 54.00) against Kernels RH Carson Andrew (1-0, 2.29)The broadcast can be heard starting with the pregame show at 4:45 p.m. on 96.5 ESPN and www.peoriachiefs.com.

Check out the Peoria Chiefs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from August 24, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central