Lead-Off Homer Sets Tone in 4-2 Peoria Win

Davenport, IA - On the first pitch of the game Wednesday, Todd Lott set the tone. The Peoria outfielder mashed a homer to left and the Chiefs never looked back in a 4-2 win at Modern Woodmen Park. With the victory, Peoria evened up this week’s series as well as the season series.

Lott’s first inning blast was the first run the Chiefs had scored off of Quad Cities starter Noah Cameron this season. Cameron had not allowed a run over eight innings against Peoria prior to the Lott blast.

Chiefs starter Inohan Paniagua, who was making his final start of 2022, retired the first six Quad Cities batters he faced with three strikeouts in tow.

In the top of the third, the Chiefs gave Paniagua some room to maneuver. After Lott walked on four pitches to begin the inning, a one-out single from LJ Jones placed runners at the corners with one out for Osvaldo Tovalin. The first baseman lined one over the head of River Town in right to plate Lott and double the Peoria lead, 2-0. Following the double, Cameron was lifted in favor of fellow left-hander Rito Lugo who promptly surrendered a double of his own when Aaron McKeithan laced one to the gap in left center to score both Jones and Tovalin.

With a 4-0 cushion, Quad Cities quickly got a run back against Paniagua. Dillan Shrum collected the first hit of the game for the home team with a line drive homer over the wall in right to make it a 4-1 contest. Paniagua finished the inning before being lifted after three innings to conclude his 2022 season.

From there, it became a bullpen game. Left-hander Chris Gerard entered for Peoria in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run cushion. After consecutive walks, Gerard settled in to retire the next seven batters he faced. All told, the southpaw worked 3.1 innings of work and allowed just one hit.

With a runner at second and one out in the home seventh, Chris Roycroft whiffed a pair of Quad Cities batters to end the inning and strand a runner in scoring position.

After both teams traded zeroes in the eighth, Quad Cities staged a rally in the ninth. After recording just three hits through eight innings of play, the River Bandits pieced together back-to-back singles to place runners at the corners with no one out. The next batter, Town, connected on a sac fly to plate Herard Gonzalez and cut the deficit to 4-2. Quad Cities would get no closer, however, as Roycroft locked down his first save of the year with a flyout and a strikeout.

The series continues Thursday from Davenport. Right-hander Wilfredo Pereira will get the ball for Peoria. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.