Peoria IL – The Peoria Chiefs completed a three-game sweep of the Dayton Dragons with a 7-1 win Saturday night. The win moves the Chiefs to 13-16 on the season and concludes a 4-2 homestand with a league-wide off day on Sunday.
The Chiefs fell behind 1-0 in the top of the third when Zach Shields singled with one out. Shields advanced to second on an errant pick–off attempt by Chiefs starting pitcher Junior Fernandez and moved to third on a fly ball to center. Shed Long singled to score Shields giving Dayton their first lead in the series.
The Chiefs wasted no time answering back in their half of the third inning sending eight hitters to the plate against Dayton starter Tanner Rainey. Thomas Spitz doubled, Leobaldo Pina walked and Craig Aikin grounded into a fielders’ choice with Pina out at second. Sierra grounded to shortstop and Luis Gonzalez threw out Spitz at home. Edmundo Sosa walked to load the bases and Eli Alvarez walked to force home Aikin and tie the game. Rainey still couldn’t find the strike zone as he walked Brian O’Keefe to score Sierra and give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead.
Peoria added on against reliever Jake Johnson in the fifth inning. Sierra walked and Sosa beat out a bunt with a wild throw into right field by Johnson. Sierra came around to score and Sosa moved to second on another errant throw by right-fielder Narciso Crook. Alvarez tripled home Sosa for a 4-1 lead and he scored on a sacrifice fly by RJ Dennard for a 5-1 Chiefs lead.
The Chiefs scored the final two runs of the game against Jeremy Kivel in the eighth. Dennard singled and Chris Chinea doubled to start the inning. Spitz walked to load the bases and both Dennard and Chinea scored on an error by Hector Vargas at third.
Fernandez (3-2) earned the win after allowing one unearned run on five hits over six innings. He struck out two and walked three. Juan Perez allowed one hit over two shutout innings while striking out two. Stephen De La Cruz struck out two in a perfect ninth inning.
Notes: Fernandez leads the Chiefs with four quality starts and Peoria has 14 as a team in 28 games…The Chiefs have tied their season best with a three-game win streak…The last time the Chiefs had a three-game sweep was August 18-20 against Beloit…Alvarez tied his season-high with an eigth-game hitting streak…He was 9-for-21 with two doubles, two triples, five walks and six runs scored on the homestand…The Chiefs did not hit a home run during the six-game homestand and have now gone 121 innings and 449 consecutive at-bats since hitting a home run…The Chiefs have five triples during the homestand…Peoria is 2-0 on Fireworks nights…The Chiefs did not allow an earned run in 26 of the 27 innings of this series while outscoring Dayton 16-2… The Chiefs are 35-13 all-time against Dayton at Dozer Park… The entire Midwest League is off on Sunday for Mother’s Day.
