By WJBC Staff
BURLINGTON, Iowa – The Peoria Chiefs arrived 10 minutes before scheduled game time due to travel issues but the bats were ready to go from the outset in a 14-6 win over the Burlington Bees Sunday afternoon.
The win, their sixth straight on the road, moves the Chiefs to 15-9 in the second half and 48-44 overall as they go for the series sweep Monday night.
The Chiefs wasted little time in getting things going against Burlington starter Justin Anderson. Oscar Mercado led off with a single to left and Paul DeJong was hit in the leg by an offering from Anderson. Harrison Bader walked to load the bases and Alex DeLeon put the Chiefs on top 2-0 with a double down the third-base line. The next two batters, Nick Thompson and Luis Cruz, each delivered sacrifice flies and the Chiefs led 4-0 after a half inning.
Burlington got one back in the bottom of the inning against Chiefs starter Jack Flaherty. With two down in the frame Trever Allen reached on a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Steven Mateo cut the Chiefs lead to 4-1 with a double before Flaherty got out of the inning.
The Chiefs added on over the next two innings to end Anderson’s outing. In the third inning DeLeon launched a two-run homer to left, his ninth of the season, for a 6-1 Chiefs lead. In the fourth Thompson tripled home Bader for a 7-1 lead and then scored on a single by Cruz for an 8-1 lead.
Burlington got back into the game with an unearned run in the fourth and a three-run homer in the fifth. The homer came off the bat of Trever Allen and was his second of the season. Mateo followed the homer with a double and the Chiefs went to the bullpen as Nick Lomascolo took over for Flaherty. Two groundouts later Mateo scored to cut the Chiefs lead to 8-6 but Lomascolo kept the Bees from getting any closer.
Cody Schumacher came out of the Chiefs bullpen in the sixth to strand two Bees in scoring position and the Chiefs put the game away against the Burlington bullpen. Kenny Peoples-Walls crushed his third home run of the season and second in as many games for an 11-6 lead in the seventh. Newcomer Brian O’Keefe hit a towering two-run homer over the high right-field wall in the eighth for a 13-6 lead. The Chiefs finished the scoring in the ninth when Mercado tripled and scored on a double play for a 14-6 lead.
Flaherty took a no-decision as he allowed six runs, five earned, on six hits over four innings. The righthander faced four batters into the fifth inning and overall walked four while striking out three and allowing a home run. Lomascolo allowed one hit and one walk over 1 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out one. Schumacher retired all seven batters he faced with three strikeouts and Dixon Llorens allowed a walk and struck out one in a scoreless ninth.
