Chiefs Eliminated from Playoff Contention with 2-1 Loss Wednesday

PEORIA, IL – The Peoria Chiefs gave it a valiant run in the second half, but with their 2-1 loss to Lake County on Wednesday, the Chiefs were officially eliminated from postseason contention.

A Chiefs loss, paired with a 5-1 Quad Cities win, robbed the Chiefs of consecutive postseason berths for the first time since 2017-2018.

As for the game, Lake County scored both of their runs off of Peoria starter Inohan Paniagua. In the top of the second, Maick Collado, who delivered a go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday, picked up where he left off with an RBI double that gave the Captains a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, Lake County doubled their lead when Angel Genao tripled home Jake Fox to make it 2-0. Of the Captains seven hits on Wednesday, six of them went for extra bases.

The Peoria offense was stymied by Lake County left-hander Matt Wilkinson. The southpaw entered play second in all of Minor League Baseball in strikeouts, trailing only 2024 Chiefs hurler Quinn Mathews. Wilkinson worked around some traffic in the first before settling in nicely, retiring 13 consecutive batters at one point. He scattered just three hits over six shutout innings, punching out five.

A stingy bullpen gave the Chiefs a chance to rally late on Wednesday. Benjamin Arias whiffed four over three scoreless innings. Hunter Hayes turned in a scoreless ninth inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Won-Bin Cho led off the frame with a triple, and came around to score on an RBI groundout. The Peoria rally would get no closer, however, in the 2-1 defeat.

Four games remain in the 2024 regular season. The Chiefs host Lake County again Thursday at Dozer Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.