Chiefs Rally Past Lugnuts Tuesday

Lansing, MI - The Peoria Chiefs fell behind early but rallied late for an 8-6 win over the Lansing Lugnuts Tuesday night. The Chiefs are now 10-13 on the season as the kick off a six-game Eastern Division road trip with a win.
    After the Chiefs hit into a double play in the top of the first the hosts came out swinging against Jordan Hicks in the bottom of the inning. Joshua Palacios singled up the middle and J.B. Woodman beat out a bunt single. Bo Bichette, son of former Major Leaguer Dante Bichette, hit a three-run homer into the right field berm.

    The Chiefs loaded the bases against Mike Ellenbest in the second inning. Andrew Knizner and Brian O'Keefe both singled to right and with one out Bryce Denton drew a walk. Palacios made a running, over the shoulder catch to rob Dylan Carlson of extra bases but Knizner scored on the sac fly to get the Chiefs on the board.
    Both starters settled in and the Chiefs still trailed 3-1 in the sixth when Griffin Glaude took over on the mound. Andrew Young reached when no one caught his pop up behind the mound and Stephen Trosclair singled to third base with both runners moving up on an error by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Knizner tied the game with a double to the wall in left field and moved to third on a groundout. Denton drilled his first home run of the season, onto the left-field concourse to give the Chiefs a 5-3 lead.
     Lansing got one back in the seventh against the Chiefs bullpen. Edward Oliveras led off with a triple to right-center and Jake Thomas drew a walk. With one out, Thomas moved up on a wild pitch and Oliveras scored on a groundout by Woodman. Estarlin Arias took over for Bowen and struck out Bichette to end the inning with the tying run on third.
     The Chiefs added insurance runs in the top of the ninth against Nick Hartman. Denton led off with a double and was replaced by pinch runner Matt Davis. Carlson bunted Davis to third and Shane Billings gave the Chiefs a 6-4 lead with a triple to left. A sacrifice fly by Tommy Edman put the Chiefs on top 7-4 and Young doubled to left field. Two errors in a row by the Lugnuts plated Young and put the Chiefs on top 8-4.
     The insurance runs were needed as Lansing rallied in the bottom of the ninth. Reliever Eric Carter made an error covering first base on a grounder and two batters later Lansing scored on a single by Palacios. A sacrifice fly from Woodman cut the Chiefs lead to 8-6 and brought up Bichette as the tying run. Carter got ahead of Bichette 0-2 and then froze the slugger with a breaking ball on the inside corner to end the game.
     Hicks (4-0) earned the win as he allowed three runs, all in the first inning, on six hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked three while hitting one batter. Bowen allowed one run on one hit and one walk while striking out a batter in 2/3 of an inning. Arias retired all four batters he faced with one strikeout. Carter allowed two unearned runs on two hits while striking out one in a non-save situation.
Notes…The game begins a 12-game stretch against the Eastern Division, six on the road and six at home…The Chiefs won the first game of a series for the first time since April 13…The Chiefs are now 4-6 in their last 10 games in Lansing…Denton has four hits since rejoining the Chiefs, all on the road, and three of them are extra base hits…The 2-5 hitters all had two hits in the game…Hicks has five starts of at least six innings this season and the Chiefs are 5-0 in games he starts…Hicks has four quality starts and is tied for the league lead in wins with four…The Chiefs have allowed a MWL leading 30 home runs…The series continues Wednesday morning with a 10:35 Eastern Time start…The Chiefs will have RH Ronnie Williams (1-1, 7.27) on the mound against Lansing RH Andy Ravel (0-1, 5.87)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 9:20 a.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.