Chiefs Pound Out 17 Hits, Rally Past Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA– All nine Chiefs starters collected a hit Tuesday and Peoria scored eight runs over the last three innings to slug their way to an 11-6 win over Cedar Rapids.

Peoria’s 17 hits were a season high and their most in a game since June 8, 2023 when they collected 18 knocks in a win over Beloit. Seven Chiefs batters turned in a multi-hit performance, paced by Zach Levenson’s three hits.

The Chiefs scratched a first-inning run after an error extended the inning. With men at the corners, Dakota Harris looped one into shallow left to give Peoria a 1-0 lead.

An inning later, Alex Iadisernia, who was activated from the IL on Monday, homered over the wall in left to double the Chiefs lead to 2-0. Iadisernia finished 2-for-5 while Michael Curialle, who also returned from injury Tuesday, collected a pair of hits in his own right.

Chiefs starter Brycen Mautz looked comfortable to begin his start, but encountered trouble in the third. After a lead-off double, Agustin Ruiz singled home Misael Urbina to make it a 2-1 game. Two batters later, Rubel Cespedes knocked in Nate Baez to knot the game at 2-2. Then, Danny De Andrade connected on a three-run homer to cap off a five run Kernels inning and a 5-2 advantage. Mautz retired the final seven batters he faced following the homer to get through five innings in Tuesday’s series opener.

Peoria pieced together a mini rally against Kernels starter Andrew Morris in the fifth when Curialle plated a run on a solid single into center. Despite early success, Morris stymied the Chiefs for much of the game Tuesday. He exited after six innings in line for the win with nine strikeouts on his ledger.

The game was turned on its head after the Kernels bullpen took over. Levenson greeted Cedar Rapids reliever Sheldon Reed with a long ball to left center to cut the deficit to 5-4. For Levenson, it was his second blast of the season. Later in the inning, a Curialle sac fly plated Iadisernia to knot the score at 5-5.

The tie was brief as the Kernels jumped right back in front in the bottom of the inning. Ricardo Olivar singled off of Chiefs reliever Zane Mills to score Nate Baez and tilt the score to 6-5.

From there, it was all Peoria to end the night. Won-Bin Cho led off the eighth inning with a triple off the wall in right and promptly scored on a wild pitch to make it a 6-6 affair. Then, William Sullivan delivered the big blow. His opposite-field homer broke the tie and gave Peoria a lead it would not relinquish, 7-6.

In the ninth, the Chiefs erased any doubt scoring four more times. A Dakota Harris hit against a drawn-in infield scored two to extend the lead to 9-6. Brody Moore later drove in Harris with a line drive single to right field. Levenson's second RBI capped off the night, a ringing double inside the third base bag gave Peoria an 11-6 edge.

Joseph King recorded a six out save to slam the door shut. King has converted all four save chances in 2024. Mills, who earned six outs of his own, collected his third win of the season.

Game two of the series is set for Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.