Peoria, IL – The Peoria Chiefs knocked off first-place Cedar Rapids 5-2 on Friday night and took over first place themselves with the win. The Chiefs are 34-27, a season-high seven games over .500, with nine games to play in the half.
Cedar Rapids broke the scoreless tie in the the fourth inning against Chiefs starter Sandy Alcantara. Sean Miller reached on an error, Lamonte Wade singled and Zander Wiel walked to load the bases. With one out, Nelson Molina hit a deep fly ball that Thomas Spitz tracked down at the wall in right. Spitz threw the ball to second base doubling off Wade, but Miller scored before the out was recorded and the Kernels took a 1-0 lead.
The Chiefs answered back in their half of the fourth against Kernels starter Cody Stashak. Edmundo Sosa beat out an infield single and Eli Alvarez walked. After a visit to the mound by the Kernels pitching coach, Brian O’Keefe doubled to the center field wall scoring Sosa and Alvarez for a 2-1 advantage. With two outs and O’Keefe on third base, Spitz singled for a 3-1 Chiefs lead.
Peoria put the game away in the bottom of the eighth inning against Cedar Rapids reliever Anthony McIver. With two outs O’Keefe delivered his second double of the game and Chris Chinea crushed his second round tripper of the season giving the Chiefs a 5-1 lead.
The Kernels got a run in the top of the ninth against Chiefs reliever Nick Frey. Molina singled and advanced to third on an error by Edmundo Sosa that placed runners on the corners. Molina scored on a fielders’ choice that cut the lead 5-2.
Alcantara (5-4) got the win pitching seven innings allowing one run on six hits while striking out nine and walking two. Frey picked up his first save of the season pitching two innings and allowing one run on one hit while striking out one and walking one.
Notes…The Kernels started the day with a ½ game lead but now the Chiefs are in first place by ½ game….Clinton lost to Beloit Friday and are 1 ½ games behind the Chiefs in the race…The Chiefs are seven games above .500 for the first time this year…Alcantara is 5-1 in night games this season…He tied a season and career high with seven innings pitched…Alcantara has four quality starts on the season…The Chiefs as a staff have 31 quality starts on the season…The Chiefs are 10-0 at home in the first game of a series…Peoria is 3-1 against Cedar Rapids on the season with two games left this weekend…O’Keefe has 11 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games…The Chiefs are 4-0 in home Friday games…The Chiefs are 23-1 when scoring five runs or more…The series continues Saturday at 6:30 p.m. as the Chiefs start RH Jake Woodford (4-3, 2.23) against Kernels RH Eddie Del Rosario (0-1, 11.25)…There will be a post-game Fireworks show presented by Pekin Insurance…Saturday is Star Wars night at Dozer Park and the first 1000 fans in the ballpark will receive a light saber…Star Wars characters from the 501st Midwest Garrison will make an appearance…The Chiefs will be wearing Star Wars themed jerseys that will be auctioned off for the Children’s Hospital of Illinois…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:15 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.
