Davenport, IA– The Peoria Chiefs were nearly shutout for the second game in a row Friday night in a 9-1 loss to the Quad Cities River Bandits. The two-game sweep by Quad Cities puts the Chiefs at 3-6 in the second half and 36-41 on the season.
Quad Cities left three on base in the first two innings and lost a runner stealing before breaking through against Jhonny Polanco in the third. Polanco walked Jamie Ritchie to start the inning and the next two batters singled as Jason Martin picked up the RBI for a 1-0 lead. Nick Tanielu’s line drive to left field scored Alex Bregman for a 2-0 lead before Polanco hit Sean McMullen and walked Ryan Bottger. With the bases loaded the Chiefs called on Nicholas Frey out of the bullpen as Polanco departed. Bobby Boyd greeted Frey with a two-run single for a 4-0 Bandits lead before Bottger was thrown out at third on the play to end the inning.
The River Bandits kept the offense going in the fourth against Frey. With one down Ritchie singled to left and Bregman followed with a single. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, Martin was intentionally walked and Ritchie scored on a sacrifice fly by Tanielu. Ramon Laureano singled to left to make it 6-0 but the Chiefs escaped the inning as Kenny Peoples-Walls threw out Martin at the plate to end the inning.
The Chiefs had a chance to score against starter Francis Martes in both the fourth and sixth but came up empty. In the fourth Darren Seferina walked and moved to second on a single by Andrew Sohn. Martes got two quick outs before a double steal gave the Chiefs two in scoring position. Martes struck out Steve Bean to end the threat. In the sixth Seferina walked with one out and Sohn singled. Nick Thompson appeared to get the Chiefs on the board but his line drive to right field hit Sohn in the leg between first and second. By rule, Sohn is automatically out while Thompson is awarded a single and Seferina returned to third base instead of scoring. Martes struck out Alex DeLeon to end the inning.
Quad Cities added three more runs in the sixth against Anderson Gerdel. Ritchie and Bregman both singled and Martin’s base hit made it 7-0. With one out Laureano singled for an 8-0 lead and after a fly out the Bandits went on top 9-0 on a single to left by Ryan Bottger.
Peoria finally broke through in the ninth against Ryan Thompson. Steve Bean’s third hit of the game was a two-out single and he moved to second on a single by newcomer Jake Gronsky. Adam Ehrlich’s first RBI in a Chiefs uniform cut the score to 9-1.
Polanco (1-2) allowed four runs in just 2 2/3 innings as he walked a career-high five and surrendered three hits. The former reliever did not strike out a batter and hit one while taking the loss. Frey allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings. Gerdel allowed three runs on five hits over three innings.
