Chiefs Sweep Lugnuts in Michigan

The Peoria Chiefs wrapped up a first-ever sweep in Lansing with a 7-3 win over the Lugnuts on Friday night. The win moves the Chiefs to a season-best 14 games over .500 at 55-41 overall and 16-10 in the second half.

  Lansing jumped on top in the bottom of the first against Chiefs starter Johan Oviedo. Kevin Vicuña led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Ryan Noda put the Lugnuts on top 1-0 with a single and he stole second before scoring on another wild pitch for a 2-0 lead. Oviedo settled in and struck out the final two batters of the inning.
    The Chiefs came back in the top of the second to get on the board against Graham Spraker. Dennis Ortega singled to start the inning, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by Jose Martinez for a 2-1 Lansing lead.
     Peoria took the lead for good in the third inning. Rayder Ascanio drew a walk and Zach Kirtley hit his first home run of the season for a 3-2 Chiefs lead.
    The Chiefs added on in the fourth. JR Davis doubled with one out and came around to score on a double by Martinez for a 4-2 Chiefs lead. Lansing cut the lead back to one with a run in the sixth inning against Oviedo as Brandon Grudzielanek singled home Noda.
    Peoria put the game away in the ninth against reliever Dany Jimenez. With two down, Kirtley doubled to right-center and Lansing intentionally walked Elehuris Montero. Two pitches later Yariel Gonzalez hammered a three-run homer over the berm and party area in right-field for a 7-3 Chiefs lead.
    Oviedo (6-7) earned his third straight win and third straight quality start. He allowed three runs on four hits over six innings while walking two and striking out four. Zach Prendergast threw two shutout and hitless innings as he walked one. Patrick Dayton, pitching on his 23^rd birthday, walked one in one hitless and shutout inning.       
Notes… Montero had three hits for the second day in a row and went 7-for-11 in the series with six RBI, two homers, a double and three walks…Ortega has an 11-game hit streak…The Chiefs had 33 hits in the three game series with 13 extra-base hits…Peoria has six extra-base hits in consecutive games…Oviedo is 4-1 since the All-Star game…He has a career-high three straight wins…Ortega has three straight quality starts and five on the season…While the Chiefs swept the Lugnuts at Dozer Park in 2016, they have never swept a series in Lansing…The Chiefs won a series in Lansing for the first time since 2009 after splitting a series last season…The only times the Chiefs have won a series in Lansing are 2002 (3-1), 2009 (2-1) and 2018 (2-1) while the teams split series in 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006…Peoria is 40-26 against the Lugnuts in Illinois…Peoria is 19-11 in the final game of a series, 8-6 on the road…The Chiefs are 13-3 on Friday's and their 18 home runs on Friday are more than any other day of the week…The Chiefs head to Midland, MI for a three-game series against the Great Lakes Loons…The series starts Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Eastern time…The Chiefs will start RH Paul Balestrieri (6-4, 4.69) against Loons RH Edwin Uceta (3-5, 3.43)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 5:50 p.m. Central time on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive and is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network on the Tune-In Radio App…The game is also available to subscribers on MiLB.TV.