Burlington, IA- The Peoria Chiefs scored four runs in the fourth inning and held off the Burlington Bees for a 7-4 road win Saturday night. The win moves the Chiefs to 14-9 in the second half and 47-44 on the season with two games left in Burlington.
The Chiefs got the scoring going in the second inning against Burlington starter Keynan Middleton. Nick Thompson led off with a double and moved to third on a groundout before scoring on a passed ball.
Peoria broke the game open two innings later with the long ball. Alex DeLeon led off with a double and moved to third on a single by Thompson. With one out Jake Gronsky launched his second home run of the season over the center field wall for a 4-0 Chiefs lead. Kenny Peoples-Walls followed with a towering home run of his own to left for a 5-0 lead.
The Chiefs kept the scoring going in the fifth. Paul DeJong walked and Harrison Bader singled to end Middleton’s night. Jason Hoppe came out of the Bees bullpen and got two outs before Steve Bean singled home DeJong for a 6-0 Chiefs lead. Peoria loaded the bases on a walk but Hoppe got out of the inning with a groundout.
Burlington grabbed an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth against Chiefs starter Austin Gomber. Natanael Delgado doubled with one out and moved to third on a fielding error by Gomber as Brandon Gildea reached first. Erick Salcedo got the Bees on the board with a sacrifice fly to right.
Burlington rallied in the eighth against reliever Kevin Alexander. Jake Yacinich led off with a triple to right-center and Nick Flair walked two put two on. With one out Zach Houchins launched a three-run homer to left to cut the Chiefs lead to 6-4. Alexander hit Steven Mateo and exited the game for Kyle Grana with the tying run at the plate. Grana struck out both batters he faced to keep the Chiefs on top by two.
Peoria closed the scoring in the top of the ninth against reliever Jacob Petersen. Oscar Mercado beat out a bunt single despite a collision with Flair, the Bees first baseman. After requiring medical attention from Athletic Trainer Brent Neuharth, Mercado stayed in the game and eventually scored from third on a groundout by DeLeon for a 7-4 lead.
Gomber (9-3) allowed one unearned run on three hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out seven and is now tied for second in the MWL with nine wins. Alexander allowed three runs on two hits and a walk while hitting batter and striking out one in 1/3 of an inning. Grana picked up his 12th save of the season with 1 2/3 shutout innings and four strikeouts.
