Burlington, IA – The Peoria Chiefs allowed two home runs and fell to the Burlington Bees 4-2 Wednesday night in Iowa. The loss drops the Chiefs to 32-27 in the second half and they still sit in a Wild Card spot with 11 games remaining in the first half.
Burlington took a 1-0 lead when Jake Yacinich hit the first pitch of the bottom of the first over the high wall in right-field. The homers, off Chiefs starter Brennan Leitao, was the second in as many nights and fourth of the season for the Bees shortstop.
The Chiefs got a home run of their own to take the lead in the second inning against Joe Gatto. Thomas Spitz reached on an infield single with one out and R.J. Dennard crushed a two-run homer down the right-field line. The Chiefs 10th home run of the season is the second from Dennard and gave Peoria a 2-1 lead.
After the home run by Yacinich, Leitao retired the next 13 batters and the Chiefs took a 2-1 lead into the fifth. With one out the Bees collected consecutive infield singles and Michael Hermosillo hit a three-run home run to left field for a 4-2 Burlington lead. The home run was the first hit in five games this season for the Ottawa, Illinois native who also played for the Bees in 2015.
The Chiefs had three good chances to get even. Eli Alvarez led off the sixth with a single against Tyler Watson and Brian O’Keefe singled to left. With one out Spitz walked to load the bases but Dennard struck out and Leo Pina grounded out to end the inning. Edmundo Sosa doubled for the Chiefs in the eight inning but was left in scoring position. Dennard led off the ninth against Zach Hartman with a single and he moved to second on a groundout by Pina. A groundout by Vaughn Bryan moved Dennard to third but a flyout to center ended the game with the Chiefs falling 4-2.
Leitao (3-6) took the loss allowing four runs on six hits over 7 1/3 innings. He struck out five and allowed two home runs but no walks. Brady Bowen got a double play against the only batter he faced with three pitches thrown.
