Lake Drops Pop-Up, Chiefs Lose 2-1 in 14 Saturday Night
The 14th inning started with an error by Ryan Flaherty at shortstop allowing Jose Duran to reach first. Manolin DeLeon struck out Michael Vass and Duran moved to second on a wild pitch before John Delaney struck out. Juan Sanchez hit a lazy pop fly into shallow right that Lake got under and dropped allowing Duran to score the winning run.
Both teams had chances early on but left runners in scoring position. Chiefs starter Chris Carpenter pitched out of jams in the third and fourth innings while Rattlers starter Cody Scarpetta did the same in the fourth and fifth. Both starters returned after a five minute rain delay in the fourth inning but an 18-minute delay in the bottom of the fifth ended Carpenter's night. With a runner at second and one down, Chris Siegfried came out of the bullpen after the delay and struck out Juan Sanchez before Michael Marseco bounced out to end the frame.
With the contest still scoreless in the sixth, Josh Vitters hit his second homer in as many days and his 15th of the season to put the Chiefs up 1-0. The homer, off reliever Efrain Nieves, ties Vitters for the team lead in RBI at 45.
The Chiefs didn't lead for long as the Rattlers immediately tied the game against Siegfried. Brett Lawrie doubled with one out and Siegfried failed to catch a one hopper back to him off the bat of Chris Dennis to put runners on the corners. The error resulted in a run when Lawrie scored on a fielders' choice off the bat of Brock Kjeldgaard.
Still tied 1-1 in the eighth, the Chiefs benefitted from two great defensive plays. Corey Kemp started the inning with a grounder back to reliever Erik Hamren. Hamren threw wild to first and the ball ended up in the Chiefs bullpen. Kemp rounded second and headed for third but he was thrown out by Chiefs' right-fielder Kyler Burke. After a pop-up by Lawrie, Dennis singled to right and Kjeldgaard was hit by a pitch. Jose Duran, last night's hero singled to right and Burke threw home as Michael Brenly lunged to tag out Dennis and send the game to the ninth still tied.
The Chiefs threatened against reliever Daniel Meadows in the top of the tenth but came up empty. Ryan Flaherty led off with a double off the wall and moved to third on a wild pitch before Junior Lake drew a walk. Manager Marty Pevey put the squeeze play on but Drew Rundle missed the bunt and Flaherty was tagged out between third and home with Lake advancing to second. Lake stole third as Rundle struck out swinging and Josh Harrison was intentionally walked. With runners on the corners and two down, Meadows escaped the frame when David Macias bounced into a fielders' choice to second.
Carpenter did not allow a run on five hits over 4 1/3 innings while walking one and striking out two. Siegfried allowed one unearned run on two hits while committing an error and striking out three in 2 2/3 innings. Hamren allowed two hits and struck out two while hitting two over three shutout innings. Ryan Buchter threw two hitless, shutout innings while walking one, hitting one and striking out five. DeLeon (3-1) takes the loss despite not allowing a hit or earned run. He struck out four over 1 2/3 innings.
Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Josh Vitters (3B) - Vitters homered for the second night in a row and 15th time this season. The Chiefs last three runs have come on Vitters' home runs. He also singled twice and stole a base to finish 3-for-6. He leads the Chiefs with 10 three-hit games this season.
Notes...Vitters has homered in back-to-back games after not homering in the first 22 games in June...He is tied for 16th on the Chiefs single-season home run list...Vitters leads the Chiefs with seven homers off left-handed pitchers...Peoria did not allow a hit after the eighth inning...The Chiefs have scored four total runs in the series, three on Vitters' two home runs...Harrison and Vitters are tied for the team lead with 25 multi-hit games...The two teams combined to lose 11 runners on the base paths and both lose a runner between third and home on a busted squeeze play...Carpenter finishes June with a 3-0 record and a 0.95 ERA in five starts for the month...Lake has now struck out at least once in 16 straight games dating back to June 6...Lake committed his 20th and 21st errors of the season in the fourth and is the 32nd player in Chiefs history to commit 20 errors in a season...The Chiefs committed at least four errors for the second game in a row...Five Chiefs pitchers combined to strike out a season-high 16 Rattlers...Peoria grounded into two double plays for the second night in a row...Burke is tied with Harrison for the team lead in outfield assists with six....The Chiefs are 7-4 on Saturday nights and 5-2 on the road...The Chiefs have lost nine straight road games dating back to an 8-1 win at Kane County on June 6...The Chiefs are 0-6 against Wisconsin this season with all the games decided by three runs or less...The Rattlers will come to Peoria seven times between July 25 and August 10...The four-game series concludes Sunday at 1:o5 p.m. when the Chiefs send RH Aaron Shafer (5-4, 5.04) to the mound against RH Trey Watten (3-6, 3.78)...The broadcast begins with the pregame show at 12:50 p.m. on 96.5 ESPN Radio and www.peoriachiefs.com.