Chiefs Fall in Clinton Tuesday

Clinton, IA - The Peoria Chiefs rallied from three runs down to tie but ultimately lost to the Clinton LumberKings 5-4 on Tuesday night. The loss drops the Chiefs to 22-14 in the half and 61-45 overall heading into a six-game homestand.

     The Chiefs fell behind 2-0 in the second inning with one of the runs unearned against Paul Balestrieri. Peoria got on the board in the fifth inning when JR Davis homered to left off Clay Chandler. The homer is the fourth for Davis this season and his second in Clinton.
     Clinton added a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-1 lead. The Chiefs comeback started in the sixth inning against Chandler. Luken Baker led off with a single to center and MWL batting leader Elehuris Montero punched a single to right. Yariel Gonzalez just missed homering for the fourth straight game and his double off the wall in left-center scored Baker to cut the Clinton lead to 4-2. Montero came home on a groundout to third base by Zach Kirtley but the Chiefs left Gonzalez at third to end the frame down one run.
    The Chiefs finished the comeback in the seventh with a big moment. Nick Plummer, celebrating his 22^nd birthday, drew a two-out walk from reliever Matt Clancy. Baker slammed a double off the center field wall to score Plummer from first and tie the game 4-4.
    The game remained tied until the ninth. Clinton put two on base against Ben Yokley with one out and Eugene Helder delivered a walk-off single for the 5-4 win.
     Balestrieri allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits over five innings as he walked two and struck out five. Patrick Dayton struck out five and allowed two hits over two shutout innings while walking one. Yokley (1-1) took the loss as he allowed one run on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts over a 1/3 innings.
Notes… Montero has four straight multi-hit games and four straight games with a double…He was 10-for-17 with eight extra-base hits, seven runs scored and four RBI in the series…He leads the team with 33 multi-hit games…Gonzalez has a 10-game hit streak and he went 7-for-18 with four extra-base hits, six runs scored and eight RBI in the series…Baker had two hits with a double and a RBI…Plummer drew two walks, leads the team with 47 and is just the seventh played in franchise history to draw 100 career walks, the first since 2003…Davis has hit all four of his home runs against teams from Iowa with three on the road and two in Clinton…The Chiefs had 14 doubles and six homers in the four game series…Peoria went 15-11 in July with 26 homers in 26 games…The Chiefs starting pitcher has gone at least five innings in 19 straight games…Peoria is 20-13 in one-run games…The Chiefs went 4-3 in Clinton this season and are 7-4 against the LumberKings on the season with four games left in Peoria August 11-4…The Chiefs return home to start a six-game homestand with a Wednesday 7:00 p.m. game against Cedar Rapids…Wednesday is a Bang For Your Buck Wednesday with $1 hot dogs, $1 nachos and $1 popcorn…It is also Peanut Free Night and Mascot Free Night…The Chiefs will start RH Alvaro Seijas (3-6, 4.63) against Kernels LH Tyler Watson (4-4, 4.37)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:45 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive and is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network on the Tune-In Radio App.