Peoria, IL-The Peoria Chiefs overcame a one hour and one minute rain delay and got a grand slam from Nick Thompson in the eighth as three pitchers combined to shut out the Beloit Snappers in a 6-0 victory Tuesday night. The win improves Peoria to 32-18 on the second half and drops their magic number to 10 to clinch a playoff spot with 20 games left in the season and five on the current home stand.
The game was scoreless until the Chiefs started the scoring in the sixth against Snappers reliever Koby Gauna. Oscar Mercado led off and reached on a Beloit error and he advanced to third on a double by Paul DeJong. Mercado scored on a wild pitch to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. The Chiefs loaded the bases on a walk by Alex DeLeon and an intentional walk issued to Nick Thompson, but DeJong was caught stealing home to end the inning.
The Chiefs broke the game open in the eighth against Snappers lefty Cody Stull. Mercado led off with a single and went to third when DeJong reached second base on a Snappers error. DeLeon reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases and Mercado scored on a single by Harrison Bader to make it 2-0. With the bases still loaded, Nick Thompson launched a grand slam to left field for the 6-0 lead.
Jack Flaherty (8-1) won his eighth straight decision with six shutout innings of four-hit ball, striking out nine. Jery Then pitched two perfect innings of relief for the Chiefs, striking out two for his first hold in a Chiefs uniform. Kyle Grana pitched a scoreless ninth inning, allowing just one hit.
