Chiefs Ruin Ft Wayne's Christmas in July

Fort Wayne, IN - The Peoria Chiefs played the role of the Grinch Friday night, ruining the Fort Wayne TinCaps Christmas in July promotion with a 6-4 series-ending win. Edwin Figuera had three hits, including two doubles and he drove in three as the Pekin Insurance Beyond the Expected Player of the Game.

      For the fourth straight game the Chiefs scored first, this time against lefty Omar Cruz in the second inning. Leandro Cedeno doubled off the base of the left-field wall with one out and scored on a single to left by Figuera.
     The Chiefs knocked Cruz from the game as they batted around in the fifth inning. Brendan Donovan led off with a single and Brady Whalen singled with one out to put runners on the corners. A sacrifice fly from Ivan Herrera cut the Fort Wayne lead to 3-2 and Jonatan Machado tied the game with a double to center. Cody Tyler took over on the mound for Cruz and Cedeno greeted him with a RBI single to center for a 4-3 Chiefs lead. Brandon Benson reached on an error by Ethan Skender and both runners scored when Figuera knocked his second double of the game off the left-field wall.
      With a 6-3 Chiefs lead, the bullpen allowed just one unearned run over the final three innings. Fort Wayne put the tying run on base in the eighth and had the tying run at the plate when the game ended but the Chiefs relievers shut them down both times.
     Michael Brettell (3-6) earned the win as he allowed just two earned runs on five hits over six innings for his third quality start. The right-hander walked two and struck out four in his ninth outing of at least five innings this season. Evan Sisk allowed one unearned run on one hit and one walk while striking out two in one inning of work. Tony Locey racked up three more strikeouts in 1 2/3 shutout and hitless innings. Sebastian Tabata nailed down his fourth save by retiring the only batter he faced.
  With his second straight 3-hit game, Donovan now has a 10-game hit streak and he has three straight multi-hit games. Perez's nine-game hit streak came to an end as he was hit by a pitch and had a sacrifice bunt. Figuera tied his season and career high with three hits while Herrera had six RBI in the series. Locey recorded 10 straight outs via the strikeout from July 10 until his third out Friday night. Tabata is 4-for-4 in save chances and recorded his first save since May 26.
     The Chiefs travel to Eastlake, OH for a three-game series with the Lake County Captains as the Chiefs start LH Connor Thomas against Lake County's RH Alex Royalty. Saturday's game starts at 6:00 Central time and the broadcast, begins with the Pre-Game Show at 5:45 p.m. (CT) on the Peoria Chiefs Tune-In Page, which is free and also has a free app for smartphones and tablets. The game is also available on MiLB.tv to subscribers.
     The Chiefs return home on Saturday, July 27 to start a seven-game homestand. Individual game tickets, group tickets and season ticket packages, including full-season, a 35-game ticket package, an 18-game ticket package or a Flex Plan are currently on sale by calling 309-680-4000. Individual game tickets are also on sale with the Dozer Park Box Office open Monday - Friday from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm and online at www.peoriachiefs.com which also lists all of the season's promotions. Game times and promotions are subject to change.