Peoria Comeback Bid Falls Short in 3-2 Defeat

PEORIA, IL – The Peoria Chiefs put the tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, but came up just short in a 3-2 loss to the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

With the Chiefs trailing 3-1 entering the inning, Chase Adkison led off the frame with a single into left. Down to their club’s final out, Brody Moore singled into right center to keep the game alive. Then, Chase Davis dumped one into right to score a run and make it 3-2. Fort Wayne closer Manuel Castro, who suffered his first blown save of the year on Wednesday, punched out Leonardo Bernal to end the game. Bernal was just a homer shy of the cycle on Saturday.

A key play in the first inning ended up looming large in Saturday’s defeat. With Bernal stationed at third, Tre Richardson doubled into the right field corner to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. However, the TinCaps appealed the call and base umpire Shea Graham ruled that Richardson missed first base, taking the run off the board.

Peoria still drew first blood on Saturday, when Davis singled home Miguel Villarroel in the bottom of the third. The Cardinals 2023 first-round pick drove in both Chiefs runs in the defeat.

Otherwise, Fort Wayne starter Braden Nett was in control. Nett retired the final 10 men he faced and whiffed 10 Chiefs batters. The Peoria offense finished with 16 strikeouts on the night.

Chiefs starter Ixan Henderson was good again in his fourth High-A start, but suffered some tough luck on his way to the loss. Henderson allowed nine hits, and only two extra-base hits, but they came in consecutive fashion to tie the game 1-1 in the fifth. Later in the inning, an opposite-field single from Kai Murphy ushered Fort Wayne to a 2-1 lead. Henderson went back out for the sixth inning, but departed after allowing back-to-back hits to open the frame. Dionys Rodriguez kept the deficit at one by working out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam.

In the top of the seventh, Devin Ortiz delivered what turned out to be a key insurance one. His bloop single into center plated a run to make it 3-1.

With the win, Fort Wayne snapped a nine-game losing streak, their longest in more than a decade. Peoria, meanwhile, saw their six-game winning streak go by the wayside. It was their longest winning sequence of the year.

The Chiefs remain tied for a second-half playoff spot with Quad Cities with 13 games to go in the regular season.

Sunday’s series finale against Fort Wayne is set for 2:05 p.m.