Chiefs Drop Sixth Straight, Swept at Beloit
May 18, 2008 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release
Beloit, WI - The Peoria Chiefs bullpen allowed three runs in the fifth inning as the Chiefs were swept by the Beloit Snappers 5-4 Sunday afternoon. The loss, their sixth in a row, drops the Chiefs to 14-29 on the season.
For the fourth game in a row, the Chiefs got on the board first. With one out in the second, Snappers starter David Bromberg walked Cliff Anderseon. Brandon Guyer bunted for a single to give the Chiefs two base runners. Bromberg's pickoff throw to second went off the glove of Ramon Santana and into center field as both Andersen and Guyer moved up 90 feet. Mario Mercedes gave the visitors a 2-0 lead-with a single to left before Bromberg escaped the inning.
Beloit bounced right back in their half of the second to tie the game. Jair Fernandez reached on an error at second by Marquez Smith to start the inning and Joe Benson singled to center. Ozzie Lewis singled to left to load the bases before Chiefs starter Kevin Kreier got a pop out from Greg Yersich. Santana made up for his defensive miscue by tying the game with a single to left. Andersen threw Santana out at second on the play, and Kreier got out of the inning with a popup from Chris Cates.
Todd Blackford relieved Kreier to start the fifth and quickly found himself in trouble. With one down, Mark Dolenc singled up the middle and moved to second on a balk. Dolenc stole third as Blackford struck out Garrett Olson for the inning's second out. Blackford walked back-to-back batters to load the bases, and Benson cleared the bases with a double off the centerfield wall for a 5-2 Snappers lead.
The Chiefs responded with a run of their own in the sixth. With two down, Luis Bautista doubled to left and scored on a Mercedes single that was deflected into right-field by the Snappers pitcher. Mercedes then moved to second on a Bromberg wild pitch but was stranded as Johnston bounced out to second. Brandon Guyer led off the eighth with a walk from reliever Loek Van Mil. Bautista doubled off the wall in right-center to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. Mercedes drove home Guyer with a sac fly to center, but Bautista was caught between second and third for a costly second out. Van Mil got out of the frame when Johnston popped out foul to first base.
Kreier established new career-highs in innings pitched with four and strikeouts with five. In his second start of the season and his career, Kreier allowed four hits and one earned run while walking two. Blackford (0-1) takes the loss allowing three runs on three hits and a balk over two innings of work. Jordan Latham struck out one, walked one and allowed a hit over two scoreless innings.
Player of the Game - Mario Mercedes (C) - Mercedes singled home two runs in the second, singled home one in the sixth and delivered a sac fly in the eighth for a career-high four RBI. He has now driven in a run in three straight starts and has collected nine RBI this week.
Notes...Johnston doubled was 0-for-4 to end a career-high eight game hit streak...Leon Johnson returned to the lineup after missing nine straight games with lower back pain but Jeffrey Rea sat out with a quadriceps strain...The Chiefs have scored first in four straight games but have lost all four...The Chiefs are 3-7 in day games and 1-7 on Sundays...Rosa leads the MWL with 17 doubles...Latham has retired the first batter faced in 12 of his 13 outings...Relievers Blake Parker and Jordan Latham are tied for the staff lead with 27 strikeouts each...The six game losing streak is the Chiefs longest of the season, and their worst stretch since a six-game streak last May 16-21...The Chiefs will spend just three of the next 49 nights in a hotel thanks to 23 home games, three commuter series, an off day and the MWL All-Star break...Monday the Chiefs start a four game series in Davenport, IA against the Quad Cities River Bandits at 7:00 PM...RH Alberto Cabrera (1-5, 5.91) takes the hill for the Chiefs against Bandits RH Brian Broderick (0-3, 4.46)...The game can be heard live beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 PM online at www.peoriachiefs.com or on WOAM 1350.
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Midwest League Stories from May 18, 2008
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