Peoria, IL -Tommy Parsons threw the first complete game shutout of the Midwest League season Monday night as the Peoria Chiefs blanked the Quad Cities River Bandits 7-0 at Dozer Park.
Peoria, IL -Tommy Parsons threw the first complete game shutout of the Midwest League season Monday night as the Peoria Chiefs blanked the Quad Cities River Bandits 7-0 at Dozer Park.
The two-hitter victory moves the Chiefs to 6-11 on the season with two games left on the homestand.
Peoria got on the board early in the bottom of the second against Quad Cities starter Mark Moclair. Brendan Donovan was hit by a pitch with one out, and advanced to second on a check-swing groundout from Ivan Herrera. With two outs, Brandon Riley ripped a single down the left field line to score Donovan from second and put the Chiefs ahead 1-0.
The third inning was the only frame in which the River Bandits got a hit against Parsons. Andy Pineda doubled to right with one out but was thrown out at third as he attempted to stretch for a triple. The next batter, Trey Dawson, also doubled to right and Parsons walked Ross Adolph to put two runners on base. Jeremy Pena flew out to right and the visitors did not get another hit all game long.
The Chiefs added insurance in the bottom of the third against River Bandits reliever Humberto Castellanos. Castellanos entered for Moclair after he came up with an injury during Lars Nootbaar's plate appearance. Nootbaar worked a one out walk, and Brady Whalen launched a two-run homerun to put the Chiefs up 3-0, which was his first of the season.
Donovan started the bottom of the fourth by lacing a double down the right field line, and advanced to third on a groundout by Herrera. Riley reached on a fielder's choice to second and Donovan scored ahead of the throw to push the Chiefs lead to 4-0.
Peoria continued to pad their lead, putting up a three spot in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead to 7-0. Nolan Gorman led off with a single and advanced to second after Whalen walked. Leandro Cedeno doubled to plate Gorman to make the score 5-0. Donovan singled after Cedeno to score Whalen from second to increase Peoria's lead 6-0. With runners at the corners, Herrera hit a sac fly to deep center field to score Cedeno and give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.
Parsons (3-0) had thrown just 74 pitches as he went back to the mound for the ninth inning. He got Dawson to ground out and he struck out Adolph for the first two outs. Pena reached on a strikeout-wild pitch to end a streak of 15 straight retired by Parsons. Another wild pitch and a walk to Enmanuel Valdez put two River Bandits on base. Parsons got Marty Costes to groundout to second base on pitch 102 to end the contest. The complete-game shutout was the first by the Chiefs since Jake Dahlberg beat Clinton August 13, 2018. Parsons tallied six strikeouts while allowing two hits and two walks en route to his first complete game and shutout of his career.
The Chiefs continue their three-game series against Quad Cities, Tuesday at 12:05 p.m. Promotions can be found on the team website or social media accounts. The Chiefs will start RH Alvaro Seijas (1-1, 2.51) against Quad Cities RH Austin Hansen (0-1, 4.50). The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 11:50 a.m. on the Peoria Chiefs Tune-In Page, which is free and also has a free app for smartphones and tablets.
