Chiefs Lose Early Lead, Fall 9-7 Wednesday

Lansing, MI - A day after erasing a three-run deficit in a win, the Peoria Chiefs blew a four-run lead and lost 9-7 to the Lansing Lugnuts Wednesday afternoon. The loss drops the Chiefs to 10-14 on the season with one game left in the series.
    The Chiefs got off to a great start to the 10:35 a.m. Eastern Time first pitch as Tommy Edman singled to center. With Andy Young batting, Edman stole second and came all the way around to score when the throw went into left-center. Young was hit by a pitch and he stole second and third base as Stefan Trosclair walked. Ryan McCarvel put the Chiefs on top 3-0 with a one-out triple to right-center. McCarvel scored for a 4-0 lead on a JR Davis sac fly and the Chiefs left a runner on after sending nine to the plate in the first.

    Ronnie Williams cruised through the first but ran into trouble in the second. He hit Bradley Jones to start the inning and Jake Thomas doubled. Both runners scored on a double by Edward Oliveras and Williams hit Ridge Smith with a pitch. Yeltsin Gudino tied the game with a double off the wall in left and Joshua Palacios put the Lugnuts on top 5-4 with a single to center. After two strikeouts, 18-year old Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer into the left-field berm for a 7-4 Lugnuts lead.
     The Chiefs got a run back in the third inning when JR Davis homered into the left-field berm, his second of the season. Lansing answered that run as they knocked Williams out of the game in the bottom of the inning with Gudino knocking in Oliveras with a single. Lansing extended the lead to 9-5 when JB Woodman singled home Palacios in the fifth against reliever Greg Tomchick.
     Peoria rallied late against the Lugnuts bullpen. Young crushed his third homer of the season onto the left-field concourse to lead off the inning. Trosclair followed with a single and an error allowed Brian O'Keefe to reach. With one out and runners on the corners, JR Davis delivered another sacrifice fly to cut the Lugnuts lead to 9-7. But the Chiefs didn't get another base runner as three Lansing pitchers combined to retire the final seven Peoria hitters in order.
     Williams (1-2) suffers the loss as he allowed eight runs on eight hits over 2 2/3 innings. He struck out seven, walked one, hit two and allowed a home run. Tomchick allowed one run on two hits over 1 1/3 innings while hitting three Lugnuts. Mike O'Reilly allowed one hit and struck out one over three shutout innings. Ramon Santos allowed a hit, hit one, walked one and struck out one in one shutout inning.
Notes…The Chiefs were also 10-14 last season after 24 games and won the First Half title…Young has consecutive multi-hit games…JR Davis played for the first time since Thursday and was 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBI…He was a late scratch Friday with a tight hamstring…The Chiefs matched a season-high with three steals and Young is the second Chiefs player to steal two bases in a game this season…The Chiefs have allowed a MWL leading 31 home runs…With six hit batters Wednesday, Chiefs pitchers have hit 27 on the season, no other MWL team began Wednesday with more than 14 hit batters…Lansing committed four errors, the most in a game against the Chiefs this season…Williams struck out a season-high seven but allowed a career-high eight runs…He has allowed at least one home run in nine of 11 Chiefs starts dating back to last August…Tomchick hit three batters, the most since starter Silfredo Garcia hit three on June 16, 2013…The Chiefs are 6-3 when scoring five runs or more and 2-10 when allowing five runs or more…The series continues Thursday night with a 7:05 Eastern Time start…The Chiefs will have LH Ian Oxnevad (0-2, 4.79) on the mound against Lansing RH Justin Maese (2-2, 5.79)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 5:50 p.m. Central 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.