Peoria, IL - Stefan Trosclair had three hits, but the Peoria Chiefs fell out of the Western Division Wild Card spot with a 6-2 loss on Friday night against the Burlington Bees at Dozer Park. Peoria falls to 26-21 in the second half and 56-60 overall with the third game
Peoria, IL - Stefan Trosclair had three hits, but the Peoria Chiefs fell out of the Western Division Wild Card spot with a 6-2 loss on Friday night against the Burlington Bees at Dozer Park. Peoria falls to 26-21 in the second half and 56-60 overall with the third game of the series set for Saturday with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.
Burlington scored the first run of the game against Frederis Parra in the fourth inning. Brennan Morgan led off with a triple to left-center field that sent Nick Plummer running into the wall, but unable to make the catch. Parra got Sam McDonnell to pop-out in foul territory for the first out, but Brandon Sandoval doubled down the third-baseline with the infield in to score Morgan and give the Bees a 1-0 advantage.
The Chiefs evened the score in the bottom of the inning against Jose Suarez and the Bees. Brian O'Keefe led off with a walk and with one down Trosclair lined a ball into the left-field corner to score O'Keefe and tie the game. Mendoza lined out to second base, with Trosclair getting doubled off at third to end the inning.
Burlington took the lead back against Parra in the fifth. With one out, Leonardo Rivas doubled to left field and scored when Richie Fecteau singled on a ground ball up-the-middle. Parra got Morgan to fly out to right field to end the inning with the Chiefs trailing 2-1.
The Bees extended their lead in the seventh against Parra and Chiefs reliever Dewin Perez. Franklin Navarro led off with a walk against Parra and Moreno singled to chase Parra from the game. Perez came out of the bullpen for Peoria, walking Rivas to load the bases with no outs. Jonah Todd singled on a ground ball to right field, scoring Navarro and Moreno to give the Bees a 4-1 lead while leaving runners at first and second. Fecteau singled to center to re-load the bases which brought the infield back in for the Chiefs on defense. Morgan grounded a ball directly at Mendoza, who stepped on third and threw to Trosclair at second for a double play. Trosclair tried to relay a throw to first for an inning-ending triple play, but the throw was high and Rivas scored to give the Bees a 5-1 advantage.
The Chiefs responded in the bottom of the inning against Adrian Almeida. Trosclair led off with a single to right, and with two outs both J.R. Davis and Nick Plummer walked. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch scored Trosclair and cut the Bees lead to 5-2. After Kramer Robertson walked, Jonah Wesely relieved Almeida and struck out Dylan Carlson to end the inning and the Chiefs threat.
Burlington tacked on another run in the ninth with Austin Sexton on the mound for the Chiefs. Rivas led off with a walk, advanced to second on a stolen base and moved to third on a throwing error by Brian O'Keefe. With one out, Rivas scored on a wild pitch to extend the Bees lead to 6-2.
Parra (3-4) went six innings in a loss, allowing four runs on nine hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Perez worked one inning out of the bullpen, allowing one run on two hits and a walk with a strikeout. LeLand Tilley threw the eighth for the Chiefs, allowing one hit with a strikeout. Austin Sexton pitched the ninth while allowing one run, one hit, and one walk with three strikeouts.
Notes… Trosclair extended his hit streak to nine games… Trosclair fell a homer short of the cycle exactly one week after he accomplished the feat against Beloit… He collected his team-leading 27th multi-hit game of the season and his second three-hit game this year… Davis has a three-game hit streak, all of which are multi-hit games… Davis has 22 multi-hit games this season… McCarvel had a career-long six game hit streak end after going 0-for-4… Parra has thrown at least six innings in four consecutive starts… The Chiefs committed all three of their errors in the ninth inning, which ties a single game-high this season set back on July 9 at Cedar Rapids… The series continues on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. as the Chiefs start LH Austin Warner (2-2, 3.52) against Bees RH Chris Rodriguez (0-1, 67.50)… There will be a fireworks show presented by Pearl Technology following the game… Saturday is Outdoors Night and the first 1,000 fans 13 and over receive a Chiefs Orange Cap… It's also a Brimfield Insurance Agency Signature Saturday where various Chiefs players will be available to sign autographs pre-game on the main concourse… Saturday is Washington Night at the ballpark… The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame 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 Radio Network in the Tune-In Radio App.
