MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Sting Bees with Walk-Off Win in 11

Published on May 10, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Peoria, IL - The Peoria Chiefs continued their winning ways at home with a 2-1 11-inning walk-off win against the Burlington Bees on Tuesday night. Richard Jones notched the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 11th with his fourth hit of the contest. Peoria improves to 18-14 on the season and 6-1 on the homestand.

After Burlington stranded two runners in scoring position in the top of the first, Peoria grabbed a 1-0 lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning off Bees' starter A.J. Griffin. Rubi Silva and Jones hit consecutive singles into right field before Micah Gibbs walked. With the bases loaded, Elliot Soto hit a hard ground ball to Bees' first baseman Josh Whitaker, who couldn't field it cleanly to allow the unearned run to score.

The Bees answered in the fourth with a two-out rally of their own, courtesy of a couple of Chiefs' errors. Wade Kirkland singled on a fly ball into left field and rounded first base with a head of steam before he advanced to second on a throwing error by Chiefs' left fielder Anthony Giansanti. On the same play, Kirkland moved to third on a throwing error by Peoria's second baseman Pierre LePage ahead of Douglas Landaeta who brought the runner home with a RBI double to right-center field. Ryan Pineda followed with a single to left but Giansanti threw out Landaeta at the plate to keep the game tied at one.

After Peoria left the bases loaded in the seventh and tenth innings, the Chiefs ended it in the bottom of the 11th. The inning began with a walk to Matt Szczur, and after a pitching change, LePage drew a walk. Silva reached safely on a sacrifice bunt in which the throw went to third instead of first to load the bases for Jones. With no outs in the frame, Jones ripped a grounder down the first base line to score the game-winning run and give the Chiefs their fifth straight win.

Starter Hayden Simpson was replaced after the first inning after throwing just 22 pitches. He allowed two hits and a walk in his only inning of work while also striking out one hitter. Eric Jokisch gave up just one run on six hits with two walks in a career-high 6 2/3 innings pitched. He also tied a career high with five strikeouts. Casey Harman allowed just one hit in 2 1/3 innings of work and also recorded a career-high four strikeouts. Yohan Gonzalez (1-2) pitched the final inning and recorded his first win of the year. He allowed just one hit and struck out one batter.

Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Richard Jones (1B) - Jones drove in the game-winning run with his RBI single in the bottom of the 11th as part of a 4-for-5 performance from the plate. He recorded three singles and a double for his first four-hit game of the season to improve his average to .302 on the year. Jones also drew an intentional walk, his second of the homestand.

Notes: The Chiefs had a season-high 17 runners left on baseJones joins Smaily Borges as the only Chiefs' hitter to record four hits in a game this seasonGibbs' single in the 10th extended his hit streak to a season-high 13 games, which is also the longest in the Midwest League this seasonLast year, Jae-Hoon Ha had the longest Chiefs' hit streak of the season at 14 gamesGreg Rohan pitch hit for D.J. Fitzgerald in the bottom of the tenth, his first appearance since April 30 at Beloit (10 games) and drew a walkPeoria is 2-3 in extra-inning games and 1-1 in extras against the Bees this seasonThe Chiefs now have two walk-off hits this season...Jones has two three-hit games this seasonSzczur's caught stealing in the fifth was the first of his careerPeoria was 2-for-12 with runners in scoring positionJokisch pitched the longest outing for any Chiefs' reliever this seasonPeoria has committed 14 errors in eight games this year when facing Burlington, but just 18 errors in 24 games against the rest of the leaguePeoria is 2-6 against Burlington this season, with five 1-run gamesSzczur has hit safely in 11 straight home games and has a seven-game hit streak overallSimpson was replaced after just 22 pitches for the shortest start of his careerThe homestand continues Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. against BurlingtonWednesday is Salute to Sponsors night as well as another $1 NightFans can purchase hotdogs, soda, and ice cream sandwiches for just $1 eachThe Chiefs will start LH Austin Kirk (2-1, 1.86) against Burlington RH Josh Bowman (4-0, 3.34)The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pre-game show at 6:10 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for an iPhone/iPad app and a Droid app.

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Midwest League Stories from May 10, 2011


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