Chiefs Tie 9-9 in Longest Game in Team History
July 23, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release
Comstock Park, MI - The Peoria Chiefs and West Michigan Whitecaps played to a 9-9 tie in a record setting 15 inning game Friday night. The game was called after the 15th inning as an inning cannot start after 12:50 a.m. and is officially a tie, the third in Chiefs history. At 6:01 the game is the longest in franchise history and the Chiefs set a team record with 26 hits while the teams combined for a Midwest League record 48 hits.
The Chiefs jumped out to an early lead against Beau Burrows in the second inning. With one out Leo Pina tripled to right and scored on a single by RJ Dennard for a 1-0 lead. West Michigan tied the game in the third against Derian Gonzalez with an unearned run after a throwing error by Chris Chinea.
Peoria went back on top in the fourth as Magneuris Sierra doubled home Pina and Craig Aikin for a 3-1 lead. The Whitecaps answered in the fifth against reliever Jorge Rodriguez as Will Maddox singled home Derek Hill and Brett Pirtle doubled home Will Allen.
The teams went back and forth again in the seventh. Jose Martinez singled and was thrown out at third trying to advance on a single by Dylan Tice. Chinea doubled home Tice for a 4-3 lead and scored on a single by Pina as the Chiefs went back on top by two. West Michigan scored in the bottom of the inning against Frey as Maddox doubled home Brown and later scored on an error by Chinea at first.
The eighth inning was the same as both teams scored twice. Martinez put the Chiefs on top 6-5 with a sacrifice fly to center and Tice singled home Sierra. The Whitecaps got an RBI double from Rashad Brown and he scored to tie the game on a groundout to short by Maddox. Aikin threw out Allen at the plate to end the inning and keep the game tied.
The Chiefs again took the lead in the 10th against reliever Drew Smith. Martinez singled, Tice walked and Chinea put the Chiefs on top 8-7 with a single to center. Jose Godoy walked and Pina's sacrifice fly put the Chiefs on top 9-7. Stephen De La Cruz came in for the save but walked Brown with one out and Maddux singled while taking second on an error by Carlos Torres. Allen singled to left to tie the game 9-9 before the Whitecaps stranded a runner at third.
The Chiefs left two runners on in the 11th and the Whitecaps left the bases loaded against Luke Harrison in the 12th. The hosts nearly won the game with two outs in the 13th. With Franklin Navarro at first, Hill drove the ball over Sierra's head in right-center for an apparent game winner but the ball bounced over the fence for an automatic double and Navarro was forced to stop at third. Harrison retired Brown to send the game to the 14th.
The Chiefs left two on base in the 14th and before the 15th inning started it was announced the game would end after the 15th due to curfew. Third baseman Jose Zambrano went to the mound for the Whitecaps and with two outs Martinez singled and Tice singled. Chinea singled to left to load the bases but Godoy grounded out to shortstop. Godoy moved from catcher to pitcher for the bottom of the 15th and allowed a base runner on an error with one out. Godoy retired the next two batters to end the game in a 9-9 tie.
Gonzalez allowed one earned run on four hits and one walk over three innings while striking out two. Rodriguez allowed two runs on four hits over three innings with one walk and two strikeouts. Frey suffered a blown save as he allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits over three innings. De La Cruz also suffered a blown save as he allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in one inning while striking out two. Harrison threw four shutout innings and struck out one while allowing four hits and two walks. Godoy threw a hitless and scoreless inning.
NotesAll-Star shortstop Edmundo Sosa was promoted to Palm Beach earlier Friday with Jose Martinez arriving from State College to take his roster spotThe 26 hits for the Chiefs breaks the franchise record of 24 set August 30, 2009 at Cedar RapidsThe 48 combined hits between the two teams breaks the record of 45 set by Kane County and Cedar Rapids in 1999Of the Chiefs 26 hits, 22 were singlesThe game started at 7:10 ET and ended at 1:11 a.m. The 6:01 game time breaks the franchise record for longest game time set June 10, 1984 at 5:16The Chiefs last played 15 innings last season with two 15-inning games and one 16-inning gameThe Chiefs have played 12 extra-inning games this season, most in the MWL with a 5-6-1 recordAlvarez left the game in the 5th inning with two hitsHe was hit in the head by a pitch in the first inningSierra had a season-high four thisMartinez had a career-high five hits in his first Chiefs game and he is the only Chiefs player with a 5-hit game this seasonSierra and Chinea tied the Chiefs record with nine at-bats in one gameDennard had two hits, Pina had threeChinea and Tice both had four hitsThe #3 slot in the order was 6-for-7 with a HBP and a walk as Tice took over for AlvarezThe top four slots in the order went a combined 19-for-33 with five runs scored and six RBIGodoy tied a Chiefs single-game high with three walksGodoy is the Chiefs second position player to pitch this seasonThe Chiefs lost three runners on the basepaths, two on outfield assists and one caught stealingThe Chiefs were 8-for-24 with runners in scoring position with 24 LOB while West Michigan was 4-for-19 with 19 LOBThe Chiefs blew five different leads: 1-0, 3-1, 5-3, 7-5 and 9-7The last Chiefs tie was against Lake County in May 2013 and the other was in June 2008 against BurlingtonBoth of those games were tied due to rainThe Chiefs had 11 errors in the three-game series with a season-high five errors FridayThree of the errors Friday were in the outfield as were five of the errors for the seriesWest Michigan's Will Maddox was 10-for-15 in the series and he had five hits Friday to raise his MWL-leading average to .355The Chiefs now head to South Bend, Indiana for a three-game seriesThe series opener starts at 6:05 p.m. Central as the Chiefs throw RH Dailyn Martinez (2-2, 5.68) against South Bend RH Adbert Alzolay (6-4, 4.41) The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 5:50 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and AndroidThe broadcast is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App
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