The Peoria Chiefs behind another strong pitching performance from lefty Kyler Burke defeated the Burlington Bees 2-1 before 1,367 fans. Both of the Chiefs runs came by way of sacrifice flies. In the fourth, designated hitter Taylor Davis drove in Ryan Cuneo, who walked and then took third on Anthony Giansanti’s single. Burlington scored their only run in the third when B.A. Vollmuth drove in Sean Jamieson, who doubled. The victory gives Peoria its first four-game winning streak of the season. Click here for complete game stats.
-Bob
With a sellout crowd of 7,142 in attendance for Star Wars night at the ballpark, starter PJ Francescon put on a show of his own leading the Peoria Chiefs to a dominating 2-1 win over the Burlington Bees Saturday night. Despite the win, the game saw the end of Paul Hoilman’s franchise-record 24-game hit streak which began on April 14th. The Chiefs took advantage of some faulty defense in the bottom of the third. After walking his fifth batter of the game to start the frame, Burlington starter Raul Alcantara hurled an errant pickoff throw to first allowing Zeke DeVoss to scoot all the way to third. Taiwan Easterling was unable to get one past the drawn in infield but another errant throw from shortstop Sean Jamieson allowed DeVoss to cross home giving Peoria a 1-0 lead without recording a hit. After back-to-back flyouts, Easterling stole second and was brought home on a RBI single by Wes Darvill extending the Chiefs’ lead to 2-0. Click for complete game stats.
-Bob
On the night Paul Hoilman set the franchise record for longest hit streak in team history at 22, the Peoria Chiefs were unable to take advantage of another quality start from Kyler Burke as they fell 2-1 to the Beloit Snappers Wednesday night at Peoria Chiefs Stadium before 2,370 fans. The Snappers jumped out to a lead in the top of the third. Rory Rhodes singled and advanced to second on a balk by Burke. A groundout moved Rhodes to third before Adam Pettersen joined him on the base paths with a one-out walk. Leadoff hitter Wang Wei-Lin brought home Rhodes slapping a ground ball past the diving Wes Darvill at third to open the scoring at 1-0. After setting franchise record for longest hitting streak in his first at bat, Paul Hoilman was at it again in the fourth. The first baseman tripled with one out off Steven Gruver (2-3) and trotted home with a sac fly from Taylor Davis knotting the score at 1-1. Beloit got their lead back in the seventh. After hitting the leadoff hitter Jonathan Goncalves, Burke allowed a bloop single to Rhodes, Kyle Knudson followed with a sac bunt while reaching on a fielders’ choice to load the bases for Adam Pettersen. Pettersen gave Beloit the lead with a sac fly down the right field line that allowed Goncalves to tag and score giving Beloit a 2-1 lead. Click here for the complete game stats.
-Bob
The Quad Cities River Bandits scored three first-inning runs but were held scoreless the rest of the way as the Peoria Chiefs, aided by a go-ahead, three-run home run from first baseman Ryan Cuneo, came from behind for a 5-3 Wednesday night victory to avoid being swept at home in the opening series of the Rivertown Showdown before 1,161 fans. The Chiefs were shut out for two innings by River Bandits left-hander Dail Villanueva (0-1), but they loaded the bases in the third inning with a walk, a double by Paul Hoilman and a hit batter. An error by David Medina and a groundout by catcher Taylor Davis then brought in the Chiefs’ first two runs. Michael Jensen retired 17 of the final 19 batters he faced to finish with five strikeouts in six innings pitched, and right-hander Yao-Lin Wang pitched two perfect innings following Jensen. Click Here for Game Stats.
-Bob
The Peoria Chiefs opened there 30th consecutive baseball campaign against the Quad City River Bandits before 3,273 fans at O’Brien Field. Quad Cities scored five runs in the top of the ninth as the Chiefs gave away the home opener 8-3. The loss spoiled two excellent outings by starter Benjamin Wells and reliever Kyler Burke. The Chiefs left 10 runners on base and went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Click here for the Box Score.
-Bob
