Geneva, IL - The Peoria Chiefs got a dominant performance from All-Star Jordan Hicks as he struck out nine Kane County Cougars over eight shutout innings in an 8-1 Sunday night win. The Chiefs are tied for first with a 7-4 second half record and are 37-43 overall.
Geneva, IL - The Peoria Chiefs got a dominant performance from All-Star Jordan Hicks as he struck out nine Kane County Cougars over eight shutout innings in an 8-1 Sunday night win. The Chiefs are tied for first with a 7-4 second half record and are 37-43 overall.
Geneva, IL - The Peoria Chiefs got a dominant performance from All-Star Jordan Hicks as he struck out nine Kane County Cougars over eight shutout innings in an 8-1 Sunday night win. The Chiefs are tied for first with a 7-4 second half record and are 37-43 overall.
The game was scoreless into the fourth inning as All-Stars Hicks and Sam McWilliams dueled. Brian O'Keefe put the Chiefs on top 1-0 with his second home run in as many games, his eighth of the season as he powered the ball off the batters eye in center field. Stefan Trosclair followed with a walk and moved to second on an errant pickoff throw by McWilliams. Vince Jackson put the Chiefs on top 2-0 with a RBI double to right but he was stranded in scoring position.
Hicks kept the Cougars off balance all night as Kane County got just two runners past first base against the Chiefs right-hander. Luis Silverio tripled in the fourth inning with two outs but Hicks struck out Paxton De La Garza to end the inning.
The Chiefs broke the game wide open with a six-run ninth inning against reliever Trevor Simms. Juan Yepez reached on an error by shortstop Manny Jefferson and scored on Jackson's third double of the night. After Nick Plummer walked with one out, Simms attempted to pick Jackson off second and threw the ball into centerfield as Jackson came around to score. Mick Fennell followed with a two-out RBI single for a 5-0 lead and Kane County intentionally walked Dylan Carlson. O'Keefe finished the scoring with a long three-run homer into the left-field pavilion for his second homer of the game and an 8-0 Chiefs lead. Kane County got on the board in the ninth with a solo home run from Ramon Hernandez off reliever Dewin Perez.
Hicks (8-2) picked up the win with a career-high eight innings and a career-high nine strikeouts. He walked two and allowed four hits while not allowing a run. Perez struck out two and allowed one hit and run in his lone inning.
Notes… Hicks has gone at least seven innings in three starts this season and leads the Chiefs with nine quality starts…He has not allowed a run in 12 2/3 innings…Hicks has induced 13 double plays on the season which is tied for the MWL lead…The Chiefs are 11-3 in Hicks' 14 starts…He is tied for second in the MWL with eight wins…With the win he has now defeated all six Western Division teams he has faced (hasn't faced Clinton)…His fourth strikeout of the night gave him 100 career MiLB strikeouts...Jackson had the Chiefs first three-double game since Carson Kelly on June 21, 2014…O'Keefe had his second multi-homer game of the season and tied a career high with four RBI…He also homered twice on June 17…He has 27 home runs in his Chiefs career, tied for seventh on the career list with David Heath (1983)…Dylan Carlson walked twice and leads the Chiefs with 35 free passes while also drawing his first intentional walk of the season…Fennell had his first hit, first RBI and first steal in a Chiefs uniform…Hicks hit his league-leading 13th batter on the season, six shy of the Chiefs single-season record set by Mark Michael in 2004…The Chiefs have hit 67 batters this season, 19 more than any other MWL team and 11 more than the team hit all of last season…The 67 hit batters are more than in 21 other seasons in team history…The Chiefs have allowed 71 home runs on the season…The paid attendance of 9,199 was the largest of the season for both teams…The series concludes Monday at 6:30 pm as the Chiefs start LH Evan Kruczynski (0-0, 0.00) against Cougars RH Curtis Taylor (3-4, 2.75)…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.
