MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Pound Bandits Again, 14-1

Published on August 18, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Chiefs Continue Dominance of Quad Cities with 14-1 Rout

Burke homers, drives in four as Antigua picks up second win

Davenport, IA - As tempers flared the first place Peoria Chiefs let their bats do the talking and the visitors pounded the Quad Cities River Bandits for the third straight night, ending the series with a resounding 14-1 win on Tuesday. The Chiefs won the final three games by a combined score of 36-2 and are now 31-20 on the half and 69-51 on the season.

The Chiefs struck first in what started out as a pitchers' duel between Quad Cities' Scott Schneider and Peoria's Jeffry Antigua. Kyler Burke doubled to start the frame, his MWL-leading 41st double of the season. D.J. LeMahieu singled to move Burke to third and Nelson Perez made it 1-0 with a RBI fielders' choice.

Quad Cities tied the game against Antigua in the fourth with a two-out rally. Xavier Scruggs walked and scored on a triple to center by Rich Racobaldo. Schneider struck out six straight Chiefs at one point, but when the sixth started it was all Chiefs.

Peoria got things going in the sixth when Rebel Rilding reached third on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Burke for a 2-1 lead. LeMahieu followed with a single and Perez made it 4-1 with a towering homer to right-center, his 10th of the season.

The Chiefs broke the game wide-open in the seventh against Ramon Delgado. David Macias singled with one out and Brett Jackson walked. Ryan Flaherty singled to load the bases and Ridling made it 5-1 with a sacrifice fly. Burke cleared the bases with his 12th homer of the season, a three-run shot to right for an 8-1 Peoria advantage.

After the Chiefs added three more in the eighth, tempers flared. Perez began the inning with base on balls from Jonathan Gonzalez. Michael Brenly followed with a single and Junior Lake made it 10-1 with a triple into the left field corner. Lake easily scored on a sac fly by Macias to put the Chiefs up by ten. But the Bandits wouldn't go quietly as Gonzalez threw three straight pitches at Cubs first round pick Brett Jackson. The third plunked Jackson and both benches cleared, though no punches were thrown but both teams were warned.

Erik Hamren's first pitch of the bottom of the inning sailed behind Freddy Parejo and the benches cleared again as Parejo took two steps toward the mound with his bat in hand. Again no punches were thrown as Hamren and Chiefs manager Marty Peavey were ejected. Bandits' reliever Dave Carpenter hit Burke in the top of the ninth with one on but was inexplicably not ejected. After Burke was hit, LeMahieu walked and with one out Brenly singled home two to make it 13-1. Lake finished the scoring with a RBI groundout to score LeMahieu and give the Chiefs a 14-1 lead.

Antigua (2-0) picks up the win with a career-high six innings of work. The lefty allowed one run on three hits and a walk while striking out four. Manolin DeLeon allowed two hits and struck out two in his shutout innings. Hamren threw one pitch and was ejected while Ryan Buchter struck out two in two perfect innings.

Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Kyler Burke (RF) - Burke collected his 41st double, 12th homer and 72nd RBI of the season with a 2-for-3 night that also included a hit by pitch and three runs scored. His game-winning RBI in the sixth put the Chiefs up 2-1 and his homer in the seventh put the game out of reach.

Notes... The Chiefs announced Monday that barring any medical setbacks Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano will start for the Chiefs at O'Brien Field on Thursday, August 20 against the Clinton LumberKings at 7:00 p.m. Zambrano is expected to throw five innings or 70 to 75 pitches, whichever comes first...Ridling has a eight game hit streak...Ridling leads the MWL in RBI with 87...Burke leads in doubles with 41 and it was his team-leading third 4-RBI game of the season...The ejections of Peavy and Hamren were the first for Peoria since Ridling was tossed in Kane County on June 6...Peoria clinched the season series against their closest rival at 11-5 with four games left...Peoria finishes 4-3 in Davenport this season...Peoria has not lost a series in their last eight played...The offense scored in double digits for the fifth time in the last 11 games and third time in the last five...Peoria is 42--22 when scoring first...The entire Midwest League is off Wednesday...The last scheduled off day was July 21 and the Chiefs went 21-6 with a rain out in those 28 straight days with a game planned...The Chiefs host Clinton on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. with Cubs RH Carlos Zambrano (0-0, 0.00) on the hill in a rehab stint against LumberKings RH ()...Thursday is also Illini Night at O'Brien Field with head basketball coach Bruce Weber scheduled to throw out a first pitch...Gates open at 6:00 p.m. and the broadcast can be heard live beginning with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. on 96.5 FM ESPN Radio and www.peoriachiefs.com.

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Midwest League Stories from August 18, 2009


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