Long Ball Hurts Chiefs Again in Series-Opener
Published on May 19, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Peoria Chiefs News Release
PEORIA, IL - Peoria's pitching staff gave up four home runs and the Chiefs left 12 runners on base in a 10-5 series-opening loss against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Tuesday.
In the first, Cedar Rapids opened the scoring on a solo homer from Eduardo Tait off Yhoiker Fajardo, his third home run given up all season.
Jacob McCombs connected on another Kernels solo blast in the second inning to jump out to a 2-0 advantage.
The Chiefs answered with a solo homer of their own in the third, by Jesús Báez, to cut the deficit to 2-1.
With Fajardo a pitch away from escaping a two-out, bases-loaded jam, Danny De Andrade hit a ground ball to third that ricocheted to Jalin Flores, whose throw to first sailed wide and allowed two runs to score, extending Cedar Rapids' lead to 4-1.
De Andrade broke for second during the next at-bat and was caught stealing in a rundown by first baseman Cade McGee, but bought enough time for McCombs to score from third and extend the Kernels' lead to 5-1.
In the fourth, the Chiefs got a run back thanks to an RBI double by Luis Pino, scoring McGee to trim the deficit to 5-2.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth, with the Chiefs stranding three runners, the Kernels flexed their power in the seventh. De Andrade and Jay Thomason homered back-to-back to extend the Cedar Rapids lead lead to 7-2.
In the bottom of the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded, the Chiefs went station to station on a José Suárez RBI single to make it a 7-3 game. Peoria left the bases loaded as Luis Pino struck out to end the inning.
The Kernels muscled up again in the eighth when Khadim Diaw crushed an RBI double off the right field wall. Jaime Ferrer scored on a balk in the next-at bat before McCombs brought in Diaw on an RBI groundout to break the game open, 10-3.
Peoria responded in the bottom of the eighth. Tre Richardson III connected on his third home run in four games and Josh Kross doubled in Flores to cut the deficit to 10-5.
Peoria went 5-16 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base.
The Chiefs can bounce back Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Fans can enjoy $2 ground beef tacos and bring their four-legged companion.
Tickets are available at PeoriaChiefs.com and the Dozer Park box office.
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