Davenport, IA – The Peoria Chiefs got two home runs from 2018 Cardinals first round pick Nolan Gorman but ultimately lost 6-5 Monday to the Quad Cities River Bandits. The loss, their second by one run, drops the playoff bound Chiefs to 71-54 on the season.
Gorman put the Chiefs on top in the third inning with his first home run of the game off Bryan Abreu. Brandon Benson singled to start the inning and with two down, Gorman crushed a two-run homer over the party area in right-center field.
Quad Cities tied the game in the fourth and took a 5-2 lead against Paul Balestrieri in the fourth when Chandler Taylor homered. Robbie Gordon took over out of the bullpen and retired the next three batters.
Gorman led off the fifth with another homer, this one even longer than the first, to cut the Chiefs deficit to 5-3. The blast was his 15th of the season, fourth for the Chiefs, and third of the series. Luken Baker followed with a walk and after recording two outs, Abreu gave way to Tanner Duncan. Zach Kirtley drew a walk from the new hurler and newcomer Nick Dunn singled to right-center to cut the River Bandits lead to one run as Baker scored. With runners on the corners, first baseman Colton Shaver misplayed a pickoff throw from Duncan for an error and Kirtley scored from third to tie the game.
Trailing 6-5 the Chiefs put the tying run on base to start the ninth. Kirtley singled against Brandon Feldmann but the next three batters were retired in order to end the game.
In his first start since coming off the DL, Balestrieri allowed five runs, three earned, on seven hits over four innings. He walked one and struck out two while allowing a home run. Gordon (1-1) took the loss allowing one run on one hit over three innings while striking out seven. Thomas St. Clair threw a perfect frame while striking out one.
