MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Break Out Bats Early, Beat Kernels 8-6

Published on August 7, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Peoria, IL - The Peoria Chiefs used a five-hit, five-run first inning and strong pitching by starter Eric Jokisch to beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 8-6 Sunday afternoon. The Chiefs improved to 17-25 in the second half and 50-62 overall this season.

After finishing last night's game with a seven-hit and five-run eighth inning, the Chiefs kept the hot streak going Sunday. Taiwan Easterling started the rally in the first inning by reaching on a fielding error and stealing second off of Cedar Rapids' starter P.J. Jang. Easterling moved to third on Rubi Silva's single to right field, and scored when Dustin Geiger singled to center. Back-to-back RBI singles by Richard Jones and Rafael Valdes brought in Silva and Geiger to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead before recording any outs. Sergio Burruel delivered a one out single into right field to score Jones, and Jesus Morelli scored Valdes on a sacrifice fly to right field to give Peoria a 5-0 lead.

After three scoreless innings, Cedar Rapids finally got on to the scoreboard in the fourth against Jokisch. Jeremy Cruz hit a one out double into left field to become the first Kernel in scoring position. Randal Grichuk doubled to deep center field two batters later to reduce the Chiefs' lead to 5-1.

The Kernels went back into work in the top of the fifth. Jean Almanzar and Brian Hernandez hit back-to-back singles before Travis Witherspoon hit into a fielder's choice that moved Almanzar to third. With two outs, Witherspoon stole second and Burruel's throw flung into center field scoring Almanzar.

Peoria answered back in the bottom of the fifth. Silva led off the inning with an infield single and scored on Geiger's double to left field, giving the Chiefs a 6-2 lead. Next, Geiger moved to third on Jones' single to right field before scoring on Valdes' groundout to third base giving Peoria a 7-2 advantage.

Cedar Rapids built a small rally in the sixth inning to double its score. Rolando Gomez drew a two out walk, which led the Chiefs to replace Jokisch with Pete Levitt on the mound. Gomez moved to third on Marcus Nidiffer's single to right field and scored on Almanzar's line drive up the middle. Hernandez earned his first RBI as a Kernel when he singled home Nidiffer and cut Peoria's lead to 7-4.

The Kernels added two more runs in the seventh inning to score four unanswered runs. Justin Bass reached on a fielding error and scampered to third on a double by Cruz. Ricky Alvarez scored Bass on a sacrifice fly to center field to cut the score to 7-5. After Yohan Gonzalez replaced Levitt on the mound, Grichuk grounded out to short, which scored Cruz who moved to third on the sacrifice fly, and cut the Chiefs' lead to 7-6. After hitting the leadoff batter in the eighth, Gonzalez forced the Kernels to leave the tying run at third base.

Peoria added an important insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Valdes singled off of Kernels' reliever Manny Correa, and moved to second on Arismendy Alcantara's sacrifice bunt. With one out, Jesus Morelli drilled a single into left field to score Valdes and give the Chiefs their 8-6 final score.

Jokisch (8-3) was one out away from his seventh quality start of the season. He struck out five and gave up five hits in five and 2/3 innings. Jokisch also gave up one walk and two earned runs. Levitt gave up three runs, only one earned, and four hits in 2/3 of an inning. Gonzalez replaced Levitt with one out in the seventh and struck out one in one and 2/3 innings. Daniel Berlind closed the game in the ninth, striking out one and giving up one hit. Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Richard Jones (1B) - Jones collected three hits and is second in the Midwest League with 116 hits on the season. He also drove in his 76th run of the season which is also second in the MWL.

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Midwest League Stories from August 7, 2011


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