MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Chiefs Win 9-6 in 11 Thursday

Published on August 11, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Geneva, IL - The Peoria Chiefs came out on top in a back-and-forth contest Thursday night with a three-run top of the 11th inning and a 9-6 win over the Kane County Cougars. Richard Jones homered and drove in three as the Chiefs rallied to improve to 19-27 on the half and 52-64 on the season.

Peoria came out swinging against Cougars' right-hander Yordano Ventrura. Rubi Silva's single was sandwiched by walks to Taiwan Easterling and Dustin Geiger as the Chiefs loaded the bases quickly. Jones put the Chiefs on top 2-0 with a double down the left-field line, his 30th double of the season. Win one out Arismendy Alcantara scored Geiger for 3-0 Peoria lead with a groundout to second.

Starling Peralta cruised through the first three innings and the Chiefs added another run against reliever Mike Giovenco in the fourth. Micah Gibbs led off with a walk and moved to second on a single to left by Smaily Borges. Ben Klafczynski singled home Gibbs for a 4-0 before Easterling bounced into a double play and Silva struck out to end the threat.

Kane County got on the board against Peralta in the fourth with an unearned run. Brent Eibner reached on an error by Geiger to start the inning and moved to second on a single by Brian Fletcher. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet and Kuebler walked with one out to load the bases. A groundout from Orlando Calixte cut the Chiefs lead to 4-1 before Peralta got out of the inning with a pop-up.

The Cougars knocked Peralta from the game and took the lead in the fifth. Angel Franco started the rally with a one-out single and he moved to third on a single by Geulin Beltre. An errant throw back in from Anthony Giansanti landed in the stands allowing Franco to score with Beltre awarded third. Eibner singled home Beltre and stole second before scoring the tying run on a sac fly from Cuthbert. Jake Kuebler doubled home Fletcher for a 5-4 Cougars lead and Ramon Garcia relieved Peralta. Calixte greeted Garcia with a RBI single that gave the Cougars a 6-4 lead before Juan Graterol flew out to end the inning.

Peoria got one back in the sixth against Giovenco. Gibbs led off with his first career triple and scored on a single by Borges. Peoria put another runner on base as Easterling walked with one out but they couldn't add another run.

The Chiefs finally caught up to the Cougars in the seventh as Alex Rivers took over on the mound. Jones greeted Rivers with a solo home run into the center-field party deck to tie the game 6-6. The homer is the 21st of the season for Jones and the 23rd of his Chiefs career.

Both teams had chances to score as the game headed into extra innings but it was Peoria that grabbed the next lead. With one out in the top of the 11th, Silva doubled down the left field line off Chas Byrne. A groundout moved Silva to third and Kane County intentionally walked Jones. Giansanti doubled past a diving Eibner in right-center to score Silva and Jones was safe as well as he collided with Graterol at the plate and the throw from the outfield bounced to the backstop. With Giansanti at third, Alcantara beat out an infield single to third for a 9-6 Chiefs lead. Daniel Berlind retired the Cougars in order in the bottom of the 11th for his fourth save of the season.

Peralta allowed six runs, five earned, on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings of work. He struck out two and walked two. Garcia allowed just two hits over 3 1/3 shutout innings while striking out three. Yohan Gonzalez (5-4) threw two shutout innings and allowed two hits with two strikeouts to earn the win. Berlind picked up his fourth save in six chances with one perfect inning.

Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Richard Jones (1B) - The Chiefs cleanup batter was 3-for-5 with a homer, double, three RBI and two runs scored while also drawing an intentional walk. He now leads the MWL in RBI with 82 and intentional walks with six.

Notes: Jones has 32 multi-hit games and 22 multi-RBI games which both lead the teamHe is now 7th on the single-season home run list and 15th on the RBI listJones leads the MWL with 82 RBI, six intentional walks and 213 total basesHe is second in hits with 120, second in extra-base hits with 51 second in home runs with 21, second in slugging percentage at .549 and second in doubles with 30He is the only played in the MWL in the top five in the three Triple Crown categories of batting average, home runs and RBISilva has an eight-game hit streak while Klafczynski has a seven-game streakGibbs had his first career triple in the sixth inningBerlind leads the team with four saves on the season and all have come since July 30The Chiefs are now 5-9 in extra-inning games as they snapped a three-game extra-inning losing streakPeoria and Kane County have played 19 extra-inning games since the start of the 2002 season with the Chiefs going 10-9The two teams have now played at least one extra-inning game every season in that span except 2005The Chiefs have not won four straight series all season but have a chance to do so with a win in Geneva Friday nightThe series finishes at 7:05 p.m. Friday as the Chiefs send LH Eric Jokisch (8-3, 2.94) to the hill against Cougars RH Jason Adam (5-6, 4.39) The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pre-game show at 6:50 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for an iPhone/iPad app, a Blackberry app and a Droid app.

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Midwest League Stories from August 11, 2011


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