Peoria, IL– The Peoria Chiefs scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning but the rally fell short in a 7-5 loss to the Quad Cities River Bandits. The Chiefs fall into second place, a half game behind Clinton, but are still two games ahead of Quad Cities in the wild card race with eight games left in the first half.
The River Bandits broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth against Chiefs starter Alex Fagalde. Bryan De La Cruz led off with a single and Adrian Tovalin brought him around on a double to right center. Cody Bohanek sent a two-out single to left field to score Tovalin for a 2-0 lead.
A two-out rally doubled the Quad Cities lead in the top of the fifth inning. Jake Meyers singled with one out and an out later, De La Cruz hit the 12th pitch of the at-bat over the left field wall as the River Bandits led 4-0.
Quad Cities got ahold of reliever Kodi Whitley in the top of the eighth. Jonathan Lacroix ripped a one-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Michael Papierski scored Lacroix on a single to left to knock Whitley out of the game. Bryan Dobzanski entered out of the bullpen and surrendered a two-run homer over the left field wall by Bohanek as the deficit widened to 7-0.
The Chiefs answered with a five-spot in the bottom of the eighth on reliever Cesar Rosado. Jose Martinez drew a leadoff walk and Scott Hurst singled to put two runners on as Zach Kirtley walked to load the bases with one out. Elehuris Montero, in his first at-bat of the game, doubled to the right centerfield gap scoring Martinez and Hurst to put Peoria on the board, trailing 7-2. With two runners in scoring position, Dennis Ortega singled home Kirtley and put runners at the corners. JR Davis bounced a single to right field to bring in Montero as the gap narrowed to 7-4. Rosado was taken out and Willy Collado replaced him on the mound. Denton brought in a run with runners at the corners as Ortega tagged and scored on a sacrifice fly to left with the Chiefs down 7-5 heading into the ninth inning.
Peoria brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Martinez drew a leadoff walk but was left stranded at first as the Chiefs fell 7-5.
Fagalde (1-2) took the loss throwing 4 2/3 innings allowing four runs on seven hits including a home run with one walk and four strikeouts. Whitley pitched 2 2/3 innings allowing two runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Dobzanski threw 1 2/3 innings allowing one run on the homer with one walk and two strikeouts.
Notes… The Chiefs seven-game home win streak was snapped…Fagalde surrendered a career high four earned runs…He also tied his career high for hits allowed with seven…Yariel Gonzalez exited the game in the top of the eighth inning after taking a ground ball to the face and Montero entered to play third base…Kirtley has a nine-game hit streak…Martinez has a five-game hit streak…Ortega recorded his ninth multi-hit game of the season…Dobzanski leads the Chiefs with 19 appearances…6,004 is a season high in attendance at Dozer Park…The Chiefs continue the four-game series against Quad Cities on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. on Bark in the Park…Princess Day with appearances from Cinderella and Belle…The first 1,000 fans 13 and over will receive a Chiefs adult XL Dri-Fit Shirt…The first 1,000 fans will receive a Scott Hurst Chiefs player poster…Tickets for kids 12 and under are $5 for all Sunday game plus kids can run the bases post-game…Fans can play catch in the outfield, starting when gates open… Seniors 55 and over can get $5 tickets as well as part of Senior Sundays at Dozer Park…Player autographs are postgame on the concourse…The Chiefs will start RH Evan Guillory (6-3, 2.50) against Quad Cities RH Peter Solomon (2-1, 2.83)… The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 1:45 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive and is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network on the Tune-In Radio App as well as MiLB.tv.
