Chiefs best Lugnuts in 10, 3-2

*LANSING, Mich. – *Nathan Church singled in Victor Scott II in the top of the tenth inning, and the Peoria Chiefs (29-29) edged the Lansing Lugnuts (26-31) in the opener of a six-game series, 3-2, on Tuesday night at Jackson® Field™.

It was the first meeting between the two Midwest League clubs since July 12, 2019, a span of 1,433 days, since they had not been scheduled against one another in 2021 nor 2022. The result was a thriller.
Peoria struck early with two runs in the third inning against Lansing starter Mitch Myers, with an Aaron McKeithan sacrifice fly plating Scott II and a Jeremy Rivas single scoring Church.

But the Lugnuts halved the deficit in the home half on an Euribiel Ángeles RBI groundout, scoring Jack Winkler, and then tied the game on Ángeles’s fifth home run of the year, leading off the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Nuts threatened in the ninth. With one out, Drew Swift and Winkler each singled and executed a double steal. But Roy García struck out Danny Bautista, Jr. and retired Ángeles on a deep flyout to center fielder Scott II to force extra innings.

With Scott II placed at second base to open the tenth inning, Church lined a 3-2 pitch from Tyler Baum into left-center field to give Peoria the lead. Baum then struck out Francisco Hernandez and Jimmy Crooks and retired Rivas on a flyout to keep the Nuts within a run.

But with placed runner Ángeles at second, García made his way through the dangerous trio of Max Muncy, Jonny Butler and Daniel Susac on a flyout and two popouts to end the game.

The second game of the series is on a tandem Copa de la Diversión night with Dog Days of Summer, welcoming dogs to the park, as the Lansing Locos start right-hander Joelvis Del Rosario against Peoria right-hander Ian Bedell at 7:05 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Tickets are available via lansinglugnuts.com or by calling (517) 485-4500.

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