Appleton, WI - The Peoria Chiefs gave up four runs in the second inning and never caught up in a 7-5 loss to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Saturday night. The loss drops the Chiefs to 9-6 in the second half and 48-37 on the season with two games left in the
Appleton, WI - The Peoria Chiefs gave up four runs in the second inning and never caught up in a 7-5 loss to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Saturday night. The loss drops the Chiefs to 9-6 in the second half and 48-37 on the season with two games left in the series.
After retiring the Rattlers in order in the first inning, Franyel Casadilla gave up four runs in the second inning. Payton Henry started the inning with a 412-foot home run that slammed off the videoboard in left-center for a 1-0 Rattlers lead. Gilbert Lara singled and after two deep flyouts, Casadilla walked Rob Henry and Nic Pierre beat out an infield single to shortstop. With the bases loaded, Zach Clark drove in two with a single to right for a 3-0 Wisconsin lead as Pierre advanced to third. With Trever Morrison at the plate, Clark broke for second and catcher Julio Rodriguez threw a strike to second for the out but instead of applying the tag, shortstop Jose Martinez threw back home late as Pierre slid in easily for the 4-0 lead.
The Chiefs got on the board in the fourth inning against Rattlers starter Christian Taugner. Elehuris Montero led off the inning with his team-leading 10th home run of the season and his second this year against Taugner. Yariel Gonzalez followed with a single to left but a double play and a fly out ended the inning.
Wisconsin got that run back in the fourth with another two-out run. Pierre doubled to right field with two outs and scored on a single to center by Clark for a 5-1 Rattlers lead. Clark was caught stealing on another perfect throw by Rodriguez as this time Martinez did apply the tag to end the inning.
The Rattlers ended Casadilla's night in the fifth with another long home run. Morrison started the inning with a single to center and Tristen Lutz unloaded a 417-foot home run to left for a 7-1 Rattlers lead. The blast ended Casadilla's night and Levi MaVorhis entered and got through the rest of the inning.
Peoria tallied a run off Taugner in the sixth. Wood Myers led off with a single and the red-hot Montero doubled off the wall in right field to get the Chiefs another run but they still trailed 7-2.
The Chiefs didn't go quietly in the ninth as Bryce Denton launched a long solo homer to left off Michael Peterson to cut the Rattlers lead to 7-3.With one out Martinez singled to left and with two down Myers hit his first Chiefs home run to cut the lead to 7-5. But Petersen got Montero to ground out to end the game with the tying run on-deck.
Casadilla (0-2) took the loss as he allowed seven runs on nine hits over four innings. He walked one, struck out three and allowed two home runs. MaVorhis allowed one hit and walked one over two shutout innings. CJ Saylor left with an injury after walking two and allowing a single in 1/3 of an inning. Fabian Blanco struck out three and allowed one hit in 1 2/3 shutout innings.
Notes… Peoria is 8-3 against the Rattlers with the first nine games all coming in April…The teams have just five games left this season so the Chiefs cannot lose the season series…Montero has a 12-game hit streak, the longest on the team this season and the longest since Danny Hudzina hit in 14 straight to end last season…He has 20 hits during the streak, six for seven for extra bases and he has six multi-hit games…Since the All-Star break, Montero is 20-for-48 (.417) with three homers, four doubles, 10 runs scored, 16 RBI, seven walks, a .490 OBP and a .611 SLUG…Montero is second in the MWL in total bases (148) and hits (93), third in average (.325) and fourth in RBI (54)…Davis reached on an infield single in the fifth and has a 10-game hit streak…Nick Plummer has 13 hits, 12 walks and 11 runs scored in 13 games in the second half…Denton has four of his six homers since the All-Star break…Casadilla has allowed at least eight hits in all three of his Chiefs starts since joining the team June 26…In three starts he has allowed 17 runs on 29 hits over 12 innings…The Chiefs have allowed 27 runs in his three starts and are 0-3…The Chiefs allowed a steal of home for the first time since April 17 at Quad Cities which also came on a double steal…The Chiefs are third in the MWL in turning double plays (78) after turning one Saturday…They also lead the league in double plays hit into (80) after bouncing into two Saturday…Blanco leads the team with 26 relief outings…Before Saturday the Chiefs had scored in the first inning in four straight games…The series continues Sunday at 1:05 p.m. as the Chiefs start RH Johan Oviedo (3-7, 5.94) against Rattlers All-Star RH Dylan File (5-5, 4.11)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 12:50 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive and is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App…The game is also available to subscribers on MiLB.TV.
