The Peoria Chiefs avoided a road sweep by scoring in the first and riding the left arm of Austin Gomber to a 5-1 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Thursday afternoon. The win moves the Chiefs to 22-12 in the second half and 54-47 on the season as the road trip continues to Beloit.
The Chiefs got going right away as Darren Seferina reached on an error to start the game. He stole second and then third as Jon Perrin recorded two strikeouts. Brian O’Keefe singled to right to put the Chiefs on top 1-0. Peoria appeared to take a 2-0 lead on the first pitch of the second inning as Steve Bean clobbered a solo home run down the right field line. However, base umpire Matt Batts called the ball foul and Chiefs manager Joe Kruzel was ejected from the game in the ensuing argument. Of Kruzel’s three ejections this season, two have come on bad foul ball calls in Appleton.
Gomber cruised through the Rattlers lineup allowing just a two-out first inning single and a one-out second inning double through the first seven innings. He struck out the side in the fourth and retired 14 in a row between the second inning double and the end of the seventh inning.
The Chiefs broke the game open against reliever Luis Ortega in the seventh inning. Kenny Peoples-Walls led off with a single and Jake Gronsky walked. A fielder’s choice put runners on first and third and Seferina’s single to right gave the Chiefs a 2-0 lead. Paul DeJong singled home Andrew Sohn for a 3-0 lead and Seferina scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 advantage.
Sthervin Matos got the Rattlers on the board and ended Gomber’s streak of retiring 14 straight when he led off the eighth with a solo home run. The Chiefs got the final run of the game when Peoples-Walls walked with the bases loaded in the ninth to score O’Keefe for a 5-1 lead.
Gomber (11-3) allowed one run on three hits over 7 2/3 innings while striking out seven and he did not issue a walk in the win. Jhonny Polanco earned his first save in two years while striking out three of four batters faced to end the game with a perfect 1 1/3 innings.
