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MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Blow Late Lead, Then Falter 9-6 in 12 innings

August 25, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Chiefs Blow Late Lead, Then Falter 9-6 in 12 innings

Hamren allows go-ahead blast in 12th; Flaherty and Jackson homer in loss

Peoria, IL - Reliever Erik Hamren allowed a two-run, go-ahead homer to Rich Racobaldo in the top of the 12th and the Peoria Chiefs ultimately fell to the Quad Cities River Bandits 9-6 Tuesday night at O'Brien Field. The Chiefs saw a 4-2 eighth inning lead disappear on a three-run homer by Xavier Scruggs only to tie it on D.J. LeMahieu's run-scoring fielder's choice. Both teams traded solo tallies in the 10th before the Bandits won it in the 12th. The loss drops the Chiefs to 35-22 on the half, 73-53 on the season though their playoff magic number drops to three with a Clinton loss.

The Chiefs jumped on the Bandits with two in the bottom of the first. With one out, Ryan Flaherty blasted an opposite field homer to left, his 20th long ball of the season, to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Rebel Ridling and Kyler Burke followed with back-to-back single with Ridling moving to third on Burke's single. LeMahieu came up and hit a comebacker to the mound. Quad Cities attempted to turn a double play but settled for a fielder's choice with Burke out at second but Ridling scoring to make it 2-0 Peoria.

The Chiefs added to their lead in the third. After a lengthy at-bat, Brett Jackson coaxed a leadoff walk and moved to third on Flaherty's single up the middle. After a Ridling strikeout, Burke blooped a single to right to plate Jackson to make it 3-0.

Quad Cities got its first run of the series in the top of the third. With one out, Jarred Bogany split the gap in right-center for a double. With two outs and Bogany at third, Scruggs bounced a grounder through the left side of the infield to plate Bogany and cut the Chiefs advantage to 3-1.

The River Bandits crept within one in the top of the fifth on Ryde Rodriguez's solo shot to left to make it 3-2. Peoria used some power of their own in their half of the fifth to regain a two-run edge. Down 0-2 in the count, Jackson launched a solo homer to left-center field to make it a 4-2 ballgame.

The Bandits stunned the Chiefs with three in the eighth. Pinch-hitting for Guillermo Toribio, Jason Stidham ripped a double into right-center field to start the inning. After reliever Kevin Kreier struck out D'Marcus Ingram, Bogany dumped a single into right to put runners at the corners and chase Kreier from the game. With Manolin DeLeon now on the mound, Racobaldo struck out swinging to bring Scruggs to the plate. Already with a RBI single on the night, Scruggs delivered a go-ahead three run homer to center field to give the Bandits the lead at 5-4.

The Chiefs tied it in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Ridling reached on an infield single to third and moved to second on a throwing error by the third baseman Racobaldo. Robert Bautista, who just joined the Chiefs roster Tuesday, came in to pinch-run for Ridling. Burke was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second for LeMahieu. The Chiefs shortstop singled on a sharp grounder up the middle to score the newest Chief to tie the game at five. Nelson Perez struck out and Michael Brenly grounded out to leave the winning run on base.

Quad Cities pushed ahead the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th. Reliever Marcus Hatley retired the first batter he faced before walking Racobaldo. Before throwing a pitch to Scruggs, the right-hander had to exit with an apparent right elbow injury and was replaced by Erik Hamren. Hamren walked Scruggs before inducing a fielder's choice off the bat of Frederick Parejo, with Scruggs out at second. With runners at the corners and two out with Jack Cawley at the plate, Hamren walked to bring in a run to give Quad Cities a 6-5 lead.

The Chiefs tied it in their half of the 10th. Flaherty singled through the left side to leadoff the inning. Bautista, who tried to give himself up with a sacrifice bunt, walked to put runners at first and second. Burke grounded into a fielder's choice, with Bautista out at second. With runners at the corners with one down, LeMahieu hit a grounder toward the middle. The shortstop Dougny Bolivar made a diving stop and stepped on second to force Burke but threw late to first as Flaherty scored to knot the game back up at six.

The River Bandits took the lead for good in the top of the 12th. Ingram reached on an infield single and advanced to second on Bogany's sacrifice bunt. Racobaldo came up and belted a two-run homer over the berm in left field to give the Bandits an 8-6 lead. The visitors added one more off Hamren on a RBI groundout by Cawley. Peoria went in order in the bottom of the frame against Joel Pichardo.

Starter Jeffry Antigua got a no-decision for the Chiefs, lasting 5 2/3 innings and allowing two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out seven. Kreier gave up two runs on two hits in 1 2/3 innings, striking out three. DeLeon was charged with one run in 2/3 of an inning. Chris Huseby fired a scoreless ninth and gave way to Hatley in the 10th. Hatley allowed a run in his 1/3 of an inning and Hamren allowed three runs, two earned, over two innings while walking two and striking out two. Jeff Beliveau came on to get the final two outs of the 12th.

Playoff Watch - With 12 games remaining the Chiefs have a six and a half game lead over Burlington who won twice against Wisconsin on Tuesday. That puts the magic number for a division title at six. The magic number for a playoff spot is three with Clinton losing at Cedar Rapids Tuesday night. Burlington now leads the wild card race by three and a half games over both Clinton and Quad Cities.

Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Ryan Flaherty (2B) - Flaherty was 3-for-6 with his 20th homer of the season. Flaherty now has seven homers against Quad Cities this season.

Notes... Ridling now has a season-high 14-game hit streak... Ridling's three hits Tuesday night give him 151 for the season...He is just the ninth player in Chiefs history to reach the 150-hit plateau...Flaherty became the eighth player in club history to hit at least 20 homers in a season...Ryan Harvey was the last to accomplish the feat in 2005...It was Flaherty's ninth homer at home this season, which ties the record the O'Brien Field record...Ridling has hit nine this season and Daric Barton clubbed nine in 2004...Scruggs RBI single in the third for the Bandits was the first hit against Chiefs pitching in 20 at-bats this season...Hamren's balk was his third of the season, which ties Alberto Cabrera for the team lead...Tuesday's game was the longest home game of the season in terms of innings...The Chiefs are 0-3 against Quad Cities in extra innings this season...Overall, Peoria is 3-8 in extra innings on the year...The Chiefs lost just their fourth game of the season when leading after the seventh inning...They are now 58-4 in that category...The Chiefs continue their series against the River Bandits on Wednesday at 6:30 pm...It is Wacky Wednesday at O'Brien Field when all fans can enjoy free hot dogs and peanuts available through the seventh inning courtesy of Vienna Beef...It is also Bald is Beautiful Night...Peoria will send RH Chris Archer (5-4, 2.75) to the mound opposed by RH Jorge Rondon (1-3, 3.72) for Quad Cities...The game can be heard starting with the pre-game show at 6:15 PM on 96.5 ESPN Radio and www.peoriachiefs.com.

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