Peoria, IL – The Peoria Chiefs scored three runs in the bottom of the first and held on to beat the Burlington Bees 8-6 Saturday night in front of 4,299 fans in the coldest home opener in Dozer Park history. With the win the Chiefs are now 1-1 with one game left against Burlington at 5:00 p.m. Sunday.
The Chiefs scored three times in the bottom of the first after two Beers errors. Eli Alvarez reached on an error and with two on and one out he scored on a dropped pop up at second baes. RJ Dennard and Jose Godoy followed with run-scoring singles for a 3-0 Chiefs lead.
Peoria extended the lead in the third and knocked Jaime Barria from the contest. Magneuris Sierra led off with a single and Brian O’Keefe singled as well. With two down, Godoy singled home Sierra and Vaughn Bryan’s double made it 5-0. Casey Turgeon capped off the inning with a two-run single for a 7-0 lead as the Chiefs sent nine batters to the plate.
Peoria right-hander Sandy Alcantara cruised through four innings before allowing three runs on two walks, a hit batter and a single in the fifth. He gave way to Landon Beck for two shutout innings. Burlington cut the Chiefs lead to 7-6 on a three-run homer by Renyelmy Alberto in the eighth.
The Chiefs added an insurance run in the eighth as Craig Aikin doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a sacrifice fly from Edmundo Sosa for an 8-6 Chiefs lead before Tyler Bray slammed the door on the Bees in the ninth.
Alcantara (1-0) earned the win as he allowed three runs on four hits and three walks over five innings. The 20 year-old struck out four and hit a batter. Beck threw two shutout innings and allowed one hit while striking out one. Sasha Kuebel allowed three hits and three runs in one inning while Bray allowed one hit over one shutout inning with two strikeouts to earn the save.
Notes: The attendance of 4299 is the second largest home opener in Dozer Park history behind the 4322 from 2013…The 42 degree first pitch is the coldest in Dozer Park history (opened 2003)…Godoy also threw out two would be Bees base stealers…The Chiefs have five doubles in two games this season…Sierra and Bryan both picked up stolen bases…The series concludes Sunday at 5:00 p.m. as the Chiefs start RH Junior Fernandez against Bees RH Grayson Long…Sunday is PNC Kids Sundays and Senior Sundays…Kids 12 and under receive $5 tickets and $1 ice cream sandwiches…All fans can play catch on field before the game…Player autographs for kids 12 and under only start at 4:15 and kids can run the bases after the game…Seniors 55 and over get $5 tickets when buying in person at the Dozer Park box office…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 4:45 p.m., on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android. The broadcast is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App.
