Chiefs Lose Twice Sunday
DAVENPORT, IA - The Peoria Chiefs were knocked of the wild card lead for the first time in a month losing both games of a Sunday double header 3-1 and 4-2 against the Quad Cities River Bandits. The Bandits won both games with runs in their last at-bat and now lead the Chiefs by one game with seven games to play. The 33-29 Bandits host the 32-30 Chiefs at 7:00 p.m. Monday in the series finale.
Quad Cities grabbed an early lead in game one against Chiefs starter Rob Kaminsky. Chas McDonald drew a lead off the second with a walk and scored on a one-out double by Tyler White. Kaminsky got out of the inning and kept the Bandits off the board through five innings.
The Chiefs best chance in the early going was in the fourth against Kevin Comer. With one out Comer issued back-to-back walks to Kenny Peoples-Walls and Ronnierd Garcia. Andrew Walter came out of the bullpen and struck out Michael Schulze before Richy Pedroza flew out to end the inning.
Peoria got even in the sixth inning against Walter. Peoples-Walls was hit by a pitch with two outs and Garcia knocked a double into the right-field corner to tie the game. Garcia was thrown out at third to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The River Bandits started the bottom of the sixth against reliever Kevin Herget as McDonald drew a walk and was lifted for a pinch-runner. Herget got two outs but with a runner on second he issued consecutive walks to load the bases. Steve Sabatino came out of the bullpen for his first outing in six days. Thomas Lindauer hit a roller down the line that hit third base and bounced into left for a two-run double and a 3-1 Bandits lead. The Chiefs went in order in the seventh, tying the teams in the standings.
Kaminsky allowed one run on two hits over five innings with three walks and four strikeouts. Herget (3-3) took the loss as he allowed two runs on three walks in 2/3 of an inning. Sabatino allowed a hit and walked one in 1/3 of an inning.
Game two started with the Chiefs getting on the board in the top of the first against Andrew Thurman. C.J. McElroy Jr. led off with a walk and Vaughn Bryan singled before both runners moved up on a groundout to shortstop. Carson Kelly put the Chiefs on top 1-0 with a sacrifice fly but Bryan was thrown out at third after McElroy scored to end the inning.
The Chiefs doubled the lead in the fourth inning against Thurman. Herrera led off with a double off the center-field wall and he moved to third on a flyout to center. Mason Katz put the Chiefs on top 2-1 with a RBI groundout to third base.
Blake McKnight shut the Bandits down over the first three innings. A flyball down the left-field line went as a triple for Jon Kemmer in the fourth as Peoples-Walls came up empty on his diving attempt. Jose Fernandez got the hosts on the board with a single through a drawn-in infield.
The Chiefs were still on top 2-1 into the bottom of the sixth. White took a pitch off the shoulder and Ronnie Mitchell reached on a throwing error by Robelys Reyes at second to put two on with nobody out. Chris Perry reliever McKnight and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Fernandez, making his first start of the season, singled to right to put Quad Cities on top 3-2. With Fernandez at second, Lindauer singled to left for a 4-2 lead before Brandon Lee came out of the pen to end the inning. The Chiefs again went in order in the seventh inning as Quad Cities took over the Wild Card lead.
McKnight (1-6) allowed three runs, two earned, over five innings. He walked one, struck out two and allowed five hits. Perry allowed one run on two hits while also allowing two inherited runners to score in the blown save. Lee struck out both batters he faced.
Playoff Picture: With the two losses the Chiefs are now 32-30 on the half with seven games remaining before the All-Star break. The Chiefs are one game behind Quad Cities and a half game behind Burlington. Wisconsin is also in the race, one game behind the Chiefs and two behind Quad Cities. The Chiefs are at Quad Cities Monday before hosting Kane County and Clinton for three games each. Quad Cities plays three at Cedar Rapids and hosts Wisconsin to end the half. Burlington hosts a double header Monday against Clinton. Burlington will then play three games each at Clinton and Cedar Rapids.
Notes: The Chiefs were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position Sunday…Peoria is 2-8 in Sunday games this season The Chiefs are 1-9 in their last ten road games…Peoria had been 9-1 in double header games on the season and 8-9 in day games…The Chiefs have lost seven games in the opponents final at bat…Juan Herrera stole his 22nd base and is fifth in the MWL…The Chiefs are 8-8 in two-run games and all four losses on this road trip have been by one or two runs…Ronald Castillo missed his third straight game…The Chiefs are hitting .220 in seven games in June…Both Ronnierd Garcia and Richy Pedroza had four-game hit streaks end on Sunday…Perry allowed his first run since May 16, a span of 12 2/3 innings…The series finishes Monday at 7:00 p.m. as the Chiefs start All-Star RH Arturo Reyes (3-3, 2.81) against Bandits RH Chris Lee (2-3, 3.88)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:45 p.m., on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android. The broadcast is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App.