MWL1 Peoria Chiefs

Late Chiefs Rally Falls Short in 8-6 loss

Published on April 10, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release


Peoria, IL - The Peoria Chiefs couldn't overcome an early deficit on Education Day and fell to the Cedar Rapids Kernels 8-6 on Tuesday afternoon The loss, their third in a row, drops to the Chiefs to 1-3 on the season with two games left in the series.

After a scoreless first inning, Andrew Bechtold led off the second inning with a single against Chiefs starting pitcher Alvaro Seijas. Ben Rortvedt followed with a double to left and Trey Cabbage doubled to right for a 2-0 Kernels lead. Mark Contreras brought Cabbage around with a single to left center making the score 3-0 heading into the bottom of the second.

The Chiefs got on the board in the bottom of the fifth against Kernels starter Tyler Watson. Juan Yepez led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Kodi Whitley came on in relief in the top of the sixth inning and walked Rortvedt before Cabbage doubled again. David Banuelos walked and Contreras grounded into a double play but it still scored Rortvedt to make it 4-1. Royce Lewis reached on an infield single that drove in Cabbage from third to add another run. Jose Miranda singled and Alex Kiriloff brought two runs home with a double widening the Kernels advantage 7-1.

The Chiefs got one run back in the seventh inning against reliever Moises Gomez. Yepez tied a Chiefs franchise record with his second triple of the game. This time he scored on a double, by Bryce Denton to cut the Kernels lead to 7-2.

Both teams scored in the eighth with the Kernels plating a run against Whitley. The Chiefs put two on with walks against Jovani Moran and with two outs, Denton singled home Yariel Gonzalez to cut the Kernels lead to 8-3. Nick Plummer walked to load the bases but Moran got out of the inning on a foul pop-up.

Down five, the Chiefs rallied against Jose Martinez in the ninth. Jonatan Machado led off with a single to left. Taylor Bryant rocketed a ball off the fence in right field that Kernels outfielder Alex Kirriloff mistakenly thought was ruled a home run. He picked the ball up and tossed it to kids in the first-base berm for a two-base error. That mistake allowed Machado to score and put Bryant at third. A wild pitch from Martinez cut the Kernels lead to 8-5 before Gonzalez walked. With two outs, Yepez doubled to the wall in right for his third extra base hit of the game as Gonzalez scored. Denton represented the tying run at the plate but struck out to end the game.

Seijas (0-1) took the loss pitching five innings, surrendering three runs on seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Whitley allowed five runs on seven hits over three innings while walking two and striking out three. Thomas St. Clair threw one shutout inning with a hit allowed, a walk and a strikeout.

Notes...Yepez is the eighth player in team history to collect two triples in the same game...The last was Tommy Edman, also against Cedar Rapids, on April 19, 2017...Prior to that it hadn't happened since Alex Mejia had two triples in 2013...Yepez has hit safely in all four games, the only Chiefs player to do so...The Chiefs were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position...Peoria has left 42 on base in the first four games...Gonzalez drew three walks, tied for the season-high thus far for any Chiefs player...Denton had two hits with a double and his first two RBI...Only starting pitcher Winston Nicacio has yet to play in 2018...He is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wednesday against Kernels RH Randy Dobnak, also making his 2018 debut...Wednesday is a 6:30 p.m. start with Bang for your Buck Wednesday...Fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs, $1 nachos and $1 popcorn...The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:15 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive and is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App...The game is also available on MiLB.tv for subscribers.

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Midwest League Stories from April 10, 2018


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