Rotondo Powers Peoria to Fifth Consecutive Victory
Published on August 3, 2023 under Midwest League (MWL)
Peoria Chiefs News Release
Peoria, IL- Chris Rotondo blasted two home runs to lead the Chiefs to a 6-2 victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits Thursday at Dozer Park.
The home runs were Rotondo's first two in High-A. The first came in the first against Quad Cities starter Ben Kudrna. Nathan Church hit a one out single to set up Rotondo to make it 2-0. The second, broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth. Carlos Linarez led off with a single and Rotondo left the yard three batters later to make it 4-2.
Rotondo reached base in all four of his trips to the plate, going 2-for-2 with a career-high four RBI and tied a season high with three runs scored.
Kudrna took the loss going 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits while walking two and striking out four.
Before Rotondo began his barrage, Quad Cities opened the scoring in the first against Peoria starter Inohan Paniagua. Javier Vaz led off with a single and scored on a Carter Jensen double to make it 1-0.
With the Chiefs leading 2-1 after two innings, the River Bandits tied the score. Runners stood on the corners with two outs when Herard Gonzalez cued a dribbled a single to the left side of the infield.
Paniagua went three innings ,allowing two runs on three hits, walking three and striking out five.
The Peoria bullpen stood strong in relief of Paniagua, combining to turn in six scoreless innings. Joseph King pitched three innings in relief to earn his third win of the season. Edwin Nunez pitched the seventh and the eighth.
Quad Cities loaded the base in the seventh with one out. But Nunez got Shervyen Newton to pop out and Gonzalez to ground out to escape trouble.
The Chiefs added two runs in the eighth against Quad Cities reliever Rylan Kaufman. Church doubled to start the rally. Rotondo followed by drawing a walk and then Osvaldo Tovalin singled to load the bases. A wild pitch brought home Church to make it 5-2. A run-producing ground out by Jimmy Crooks made it 6-2.
Andrew Marrero tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts to finish the game.
The Chiefs are now 51-48 and 18-15 in the second half. The River Bandits dropped to 44-55 and 12-21 in the latter half. Peoria has now won five in a row and leads the season series with Quad Cities eight to one.
Game four of the series is scheduled for Friday at 6:35 p.m.
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