Tied in the eighth inning, the Peoria Chiefs got four walks to force in a run en route to a 2-1 victory over the Lake County Captains Thursday night. The win, Peoria’s eighth straight at home, improves the Chiefs to 60-48 on the season and 27-13 for the second half with three games remaining on the current homestand.
The game was scoreless through 3 ½ innings before the Chiefs got on the board in the bottom of the fourth against Captains starter Justus Sheffield. Harrison Bader led off with an infield single and moved to third on a single by Alex DeLeon. Bader scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Nick Thompson to give the Chiefs a 1-0 advantage.
The Captains evened the score in the sixth against Chiefs starter Jack Flaherty. Taylor Murphy led off with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Murphy scored on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Bradley to tie the score 1-1.
The Chiefs took the lead in the eighth against Captains reliever Cameron Hill. Andrew Sohn led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice but by Darren Seferina. Bader and Alex DeLeon drew walks to load the bases, and Sohn scored when Thompson drew a walk for the 2-1 Chiefs lead.
Flaherty started and took a no-decision, going six innings and allowing one run on five hits and two walks, striking out a career-high 12. Nick Lomascolo (2-1) got the win, working two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out two. Kyle Grana pitched a perfect ninth to earn his team-leading 17th save, striking out one.
