Chiefs Sweep Friday DH

Peoria, IL - The First Half Western Division Wild Card Champion Peoria Chiefs began the second half with a double header sweep of the Burlington Bees on Friday night winning 6-1 and 4-3. The Chiefs are now 2-0 in the second half and 41-31 overall with another game against the Bees Saturday night.

    In game one of the double header the Chiefs got rolling right away against Bees starter Mitchell Traver. With one out in the first inning Scott Hurst drew a walk and Julio Rodriguez singled to right. With runners on the corners, Hurst scored on an errant pickoff throw from catcher Keinner Piña. Rodriguez moved to third on a flyout and scored on an error at third base by Julio Garcia for a 2-0 Chiefs lead.
    Burlington cut the lead to 2-1 before the Chiefs broke the game open in the fourth. The Chiefs loaded the bases with two singles and a walk from the bottom of the order. After an out at the plate on a fielders' choice, Hurst put the Chiefs up 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to right as JR Davis scored. Rodriguez made it 4-1 with a single to left before Burlington changed pitchers and escaped the inning.
    Peoria added two more in the fifth against reliever James Ziemba. Rayder Ascanio singled with one out and Davis launched a two-run homer over the left-field berm for a 6-1 Chiefs lead. The homer was the third of the season for Davis and his second off a lefty.
      Johan Oviedo (3-6) earned the win as he allowed one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings while striking out six and walking just one. Kodi Whitley earned his second save as he got out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth and allowed just one walk over 1 2/3 hitless innings while striking out four.
    Game two was scoreless into the bottom of the second when the Chiefs took the lead against lefty Max Hermann. Matt Fiedler got the scoring started with his second homer of the season, a solo shot to left, with two outs in the frame. Bryce Denton doubled the lead with a back-to-back solo homer that cleared the berm in left, his third of the season, for a 2-0 Chiefs lead.
   The Bees got even in the third against Chiefs starter Zach Prendergast. Leo Rivas bunted for a single with one out and was thrown out trying to steal second as Dennis Ortega launched a perfect throw from his knees. Torii Hunter Jr. Jr singled to center and scored on a triple to right by Kevin Williams Jr. to get the Bees on the board. Andrew Summerville came out of the Chiefs bullpen and a first-pitch wild pitch scored Williams to tie the game.
    The Chiefs quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Elehuris Montero walked with one out and moved to second on a ground out. Yariel Gonzalez put runners on the corners with an infield single to shortstop and Davis put the Chiefs back on top 3-2 with a single to right as Montero scored. Fiedler added another RBI and ended Hermann's night with a single to left as Gonzalez scored for a 4-2 Chiefs lead.
    Burlington tacked on an unearned run in the seventh after an error, balk and sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 4-3. Fabian Blanco closed the door for his third save of the season with a strikeout of Williams.
    Prendergast made his first start since May 23 and allowed two runs on five hits while striking out four over 2 2/3 innings. Summerville (2-0) earned the win with 2 1/3 shutout innings as he struck out four and walked two. CJ Saylor threw a hitless inning with a walk and a strikeout. Blanco allowed an unearned run on one hit and two strikeouts in one inning to earn the save.
Notes…The Chiefs have won seven straight against the Bees and clinch the season series with six games to play as they lead the Bees 8-1…The Chiefs have won the season series against Burlington six years in a row with a mark of 62-31 in that span…Peoria is 9-1 in five double headers this season with an 8-0 mark at home in double headers…The Chiefs are a season-best 10 games over .500…Peoria scored two runs exactly in five different innings on Friday and never trailed…Rodriguez has a nine-game hit streak and Friday's opener was his first multi-hit game during the streak as he delivered a career-high four hits…Hurst had his eight-game hit streak snapped in the opener…Despite winning 6-1 in the opener the Chiefs were just 2-for-15 with a runner in scoring position…Peoria led the entire MWL in the first half of the season with a .287 team average with a runner in scoring position…Oviedo went over 90 pitches for the eighth time this season….Oviedo has just one walk in two straight starts and one walk or less in four outings this season…Whitley has inherited 12 runners this season and stranded them all…Dennis Ortega has thrown out 48.3 percent of would-be base stealers on the season (14-of-29) and also has nine pickoffs…The Chiefs have gone back-to-back three times this season with the other two coming in Iowa and the last one coming Sunday…The Chiefs are 9-3 in the first game of a home series this year…The series continues at 6:30 p.m. Saturday with post-game Fireworks presented by Chick-Fil-A Peoria and a post-game Chris August Concert on Faith & Family Night…Saturday is also St. Jude Night and Morton Night…A few Chiefs players will be on the concourse pregame to sign autographs as part of Signature Saturday…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:15 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 on MiLB.tv for subscribers.