Peoria, IL – The Peoria Distillers walked off the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 2-1 on a wild pitch in the bottom of the tenth inning on Friday night. Peoria is now 20-12 in the second half and 59-43 overall with a four-game series coming up at Clinton on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
With MLB rehab pitcher Zach Davies cruising through the first two innings, Wisconsin used the long ball to get on the board first in the top of the third against Distillers starter Alvaro Seijas. Payton Henry led off with a solo home run to the picnic tables in right for a 1-0 lead.
Peoria answered quickly in the bottom of the third on Bowden Francis after Davies reached his pitch limit with one out in the inning during his MLB rehab start. JR Davis hit a one-out single to center and Jose Martinez doubled to center. Wood Myers drove in Davis on a ground ball to tie the game 1-1.
The game did not stay tied for long as Wisconsin took the lead back in the top of the fourth. Trever Morrison hit a leadoff single and moved to third on a wild pitch plus a throwing error from Julio Rodriguez. Kenny Corey brought Morrison around on a sacrifice fly to left as the Timber Rattlers snagged a 2-1 advantage.
The Distillers tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Nick Plummer blasted a solo homer over the fence in left field to bring the game even again 2-2 on his sixth home run of the season.
After Wisconsin came up empty in the top of the tenth, the Distillers walked it off in the bottom of the tenth against Cody Beckman. JR Davis was the automatic runner at second base and he moved to third on a bunt by Martinez. The throw went to third so Martinez reached to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Martinez advanced to second on a defensive indifference and Myers was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With Luken Baker at the plate, a wild pitch scored Davis for the 2-1 walk off win.
Seijas took a no-decision throwing six innings allowing one earned run on three hits with five walks and four strikeouts. Fabian Blanco pitched two scoreless and hitless innings only allowing one walk while striking out three. Ben Yokley (1-0) got the win throwing two shutout innings without allowing a hit with one walk and three strikeouts.
Notes… Peoria is 7-4 in extra-inning games…Peoria has eight walk-off wins this season, three against Wisconsin…The Chiefs/Distillers have 106 walk-offs in Dozer Park history, 16 against Wisconsin, the second most against any opponent (Burlington 17)…Peoria is 9-0 at Dozer Park in Friday games this season…Peoria won the season series 11-5 with six of the wins coming by one run…The Distillers are now 12-5 in the last game of a series at home and 3-1 in the rubber game of a three-game series at home…Peoria is 20-11 in one-run games…Yokley earned his first professional win in his home debut…Seijas matched his career high five walks…Denton exited the game in the top of the tenth inning and Yariel Gonzalez replaced him in right field…Gonzalez has played six positions for Peoria this season, the only two he hasn’t are catcher and center field…Peoria won the season series against Wisconsin 11-5…Montero’s seven-game hit streak snapped… Martinez has a seven-game hit streak…After throwing out three runners, Julio Rodriguez has thrown out 47.6 percent (30-for-63) of runners trying to steal… Peoria’s starting pitching has 15 straight games with at least five innings… Peoria is now 2-3 wearing Distillers jerseys since 1917 when the original team changed their name to the Tractors…Peoria begins a four-game series at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Clinton as the Chiefs start RH Alex Fagalde (5-3, 1.79) against Clinton RH Scott Boches (2-2, 2.84)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:15 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive and is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network on the Tune-In Radio App.
