MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Drop Opener in Beloit as Win Streak Ends

Published on May 8, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Beloit, WI- The Peoria Chiefs allowed three home runs and left 11 runners on base in a 6-1 loss to the Beloit Snappers Wednesday night ending a four-game winning streak. The loss, which opens a 12-game, nine-day roadtrip, drops the Chiefs to 14-13 on the season and a game behind the Snappers for third place in the Western Division.

The Chiefs left Carson Kelly at third base after the DH connected on a one-out double in the top of the second. Beloit took advantage in the bottom of the inning as John Wooten delivered a one-out single to left-center off Josh Lucas. The Snappers took a 2-0 lead when Sam Roberts launched his second homer of the season over the right-field wall. Ryan Mathews followed with a double and moved to third on a groundout to first by Brett Vertigan. The A's 2012 supplemental first round pick, Dan Robertson, made it 3-0 with a single up the middle before Lucas got a groundball to end the inning.

Beloit broke the game open against Jhonny Polanco in the bottom of the fifth. After a strikeout, Renato Nunez crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence for his seventh homer of the season and a 4-0 lead. Polanco walked Matt Olson on four pitches and MWL veteran Rashun Dixon hit a two-run homer to center field for a 6-0 Snappers lead. The homer was the second in six games for Dixon since joining the Snappers last week.

After leaving six runners on base in the first five innings, the Chiefs finally got on the board in the sixth against Beloit reliever Vince Voiro. Jordan Walton, fresh off the DL, led off with a single to right and Patrick Wisdom walked. Kelly singled to right to load the bases with nobody out and Michael Swinson delivered a sacrifice fly to the centerfield wall for the Chiefs first run. With runners on the corners, Voiro struck out Nick Martini and Casey Rasmus flew out to left to end the inning. The Chiefs put three on in the top of the ninth with a two-out rally but Voiro struck out Jacob Wilson looking to end the game.

Lucas (0-2) allowed three runs on nine hits over four innings. He walked one, struck out one and allowed a home run. Polanco allowed three runs on four hits and two walks over three innings of work while striking out seven. Joe Donofrio fired a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts.

Notes: Kelly had more than one hit for the fourth time in his last six gamesFour of Kelly's last 11 hits have been doubles and he matched a career high with three hitsThe Chiefs have not been three games over .500 since moving their record to 33-30 on June 12, 2011, a span of 241 gamesThe Chiefs have lost four straight road games after winning four straight home gamesBeloit now leads the season series 3-2 and the teams will play 19 times in 2013Wisdom leads the Chiefs with 11 walksJordan Walton (ankle injury) returned to the lineup for the first time since April 27 and batted cleanup while playing first baseTo make room on the roster, catcher Geoff Klein was transferred to Triple-A MemphisPolanco had not allowed a homer all season before allowing two in a three-batter span in the fifth inningThe Chiefs are now 6-2 when Rasmus is the starting catcherRasmus has back-to-back two-hit games and is 5-for-9 in a three-game hit streakPolanco tied a career high with seven strikeoutsRashun Dixon has played in the Midwest League with Kane County (2010), Burlington (2012) and Beloit, all as an Oakland A's affiliateBecause of two rainouts and one off day, this was just the Chiefs second Wednesday game of the seasonThe two teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday to make up the game rained out in Peoria on April 10Both games will be seven innings with at least a half hour between gamesGame 1 starts at 4:00 p.m. and features Chiefs RH Joe Cuda (1-1, 9.00) against Snappers RH Austin House (0-2, 3.00) while game 2 will see Chiefs LH Hector Hernandez (1-1, 3.38) against Snappers RH Dakota Bacus (3-0, 3.60)It will be the Chiefs first doubleheader since June 15, 2011 The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pre-game show at 3:45 p.m. Central Time on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android.

Check out the Peoria Chiefs Statistics

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



Midwest League Stories from May 8, 2013


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