Chiefs Win 4th Straight, Beat Bees 3-2

Burlington, IA - The Peoria Chiefs escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Burlington Bees 3-2 Friday night in Iowa. The win moves the Chiefs into sole possession of first place in the second half at 2-0 and they are 32-39 overall with a four-game win streak.
    The game was scoreless into the second when Brian O'Keefe drew a leadoff walk from Joe Gatto. With one down, O'Keefe moved to third when Dylan Carlson singled to left-center. As Nick Plummer struck out swinging, Carlson took off for second and stayed in the run down long enough for O'Keefe to score for a 1-0 Chiefs lead. Carlson was eventually tagged out on the play to end the inning.

    Burlington tied the game on an error in the bottom of the inning. Two straight singles started the frame against Juan Perez before he struck out John Shuknecht. Jeyson Sanchez hit a grounder to third and Jack Kruger scored as Danny Hudzina's throw to second went into the outfield. Perez bounced back from there to get a pop up and a ground out to end the inning.
    The Chiefs again scored a run on the same play that ended the inning in the second. Jose Martinez led off with a single and Vince Jackson walked. Martinez was out at third on a fielders' choice grounder by JR Davis as Jackson moved to second. Matt Fielder walked and Ryan McCarvel put the Chiefs up 2-1 with a sacrifice fly to right as Jackson scored but Davis was thrown out at third on the play to end the inning.
     Peoria extended the lead in the fifth against Gatto. Plummer drew a leadoff walk and moved to second as Martinez beat out a sacrifice bunt attempt for a single. With one down, Davis doubled home Plummer for a 3-1 lead but Gatto retired the next two batters to leave Chiefs at second and third.
     The game stayed 3-1 into the ninth as Yeison Medina took over in a save opportunity. With one out he hit Sam McDonnell with a pitch and then plunked Brennan Morgan with two down. Schuknecht singled home McDonnell to cut the Chiefs lead to 3-2 and Sanchez blooped a single to right to load the bases. But Medina got Juan Moreno to pop out foul to O'Keefe to end the game.
    Perez (1-0) earned the win as he allowed one unearned run on three hits over five innings. He struck out seven and did not issue a walk. Bryan Dobzanski pitched as a reliever for the first time this season and threw two perfect innings with a strikeout. Ronnie Williams walked one and struck out two in his hitless inning. Medina hit two batters and allowed one run on two hits while earning his fifth save in one inning pitched.
Notes…The last time the Chiefs won four in a row was July 4-7, 2016…Shane Billings, who has a 14-game hit streak got the day off…Dobzanski made his first relief appearance since August 13, 2016 after 14 straight starts…Plummer drew two walks and has walked three times in five plate appearances in the series…O'Keefe and Jackson also walked twice each and the Chiefs drew a season-high nine walks…Perez struck out a season-high seven and threw a season-high five innings…The Chiefs lost four runners on the basepaths…The Chiefs have hit 60 batters on the season which leads the Midwest League by 15…Peoria leads the season series 8-5…The Chiefs are 18-18 in games decided by two runs or less…The Chiefs are 13-32 when scoring four runs or less…The series continues Saturday at 6:30 p.m. as the Chiefs send All-Star RHP Mike O'Reilly (4-2, 2.31) on the mound against Bees LHP Nate Bertness (3-5, 4.53)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game 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 Network in the Tune-In Radio App.