PEORIA – The Peoria Chiefs allowed four runs in the eighth inning and fell 6-4 to the Fort Wayne TinCaps 6-4 Saturday night. The loss, which ends a nine-game home winning streak, drops the Chiefs to 28-14 in the second half and 61-49 overall.
The TinCaps struck first against Chiefs starter Ian McKinney in the very first frame. With two outs, Ruddy Giron reached on a throwing error by Paul DeJong, Franmil Reyes singled and Giron scored on another error by DeJong to make it 1-0.
The Chiefs came back to take the lead in the third against TinCaps starter Ernesto Montas. Andrew Sohn led off with a single, Darren Seferina singled and Paul DeJong drove home Sohn to tie the game at one with a single of his own. Alex DeLeon singled home Seferina as the Chiefs nabbed the 2-1 lead.
The Chiefs added a pair in the fourth. Steve Bean singled and Kenny Peoples-Walls belted his seventh home run of the season for a 4-1 Chiefs lead.
The TinCaps came all the way back to re-take the lead in the eighth inning against Chiefs reliever Jhonny Polanco. Michael Gettys walked, Franchy Cordero walked and Giron laced an RBI double to make it 4-2. Reyes followed with an RBI single to make it 4-3 and chased Polanco from the game without registering an out. Steve Sabatino came in and Luis Tejada beat out an infield single to tie the game at four. Trae Santos follewed with a sacrifice fly to deep center to give the Tin Caps a 5-4 lead.
Fort Wayne grabbed an insurance run in the eighth after Ray Bruguera walked, moved to third on a single by Gettys, and scored on a single by Cordero to make it 6-4.
McKinney allowed an unearned run on three hits and one walk, striking out eight over seven innings of work. Polanco (3-4) allowed four runs on two hits and two walks and did not record an out. Sabatino allowed an unearned run on three hits and one walk, striking out one over an inning and a third. Dixon Llorens struck out one in two-thirds of an inning.
Notes: McKinney, who made eight starts in short season State College, fanned a season-high eight batters and has struck out at least four in eight of his nine starts this season…The Chiefs are 50-4 with the lead entering the eighth and 18-12 in two-run games…The loss snaps the Chiefs nine-game home winning streak, with the last loss on July 21 against Clinton…Kenny Peoples-Walls tied a career-high with seven homers in only 29 games this season…Harrison Bader stole his 13th base and collected his ninth multi-hit game…Polanco made his 74th career appearance as a pitcher, which is tied for fifth on the Chiefs career list…The Chiefs and TinCaps conclude their series Sunday at 5:00 p.m…The pitching matchup features Peoria LH Dewin Perez (2-3, 7.39) against Fort Wayne RH Chris Huffman (6-6, 3.28)…The first 1,000 fans 12 and under will receive a Peoria Chiefs lunch box presented by the Children’s Hospital of Illinois…The first 1,000 fans of all ages will receive a Paul DeJong player poster courtesy of the Peoria Journal Star…It’s PNC Kids Eat Free Sunday so kids 12 and under receive $5 admission, a free hot dog, chips, and a drink…There will be a pregame catch on the field at 4:00 p.m. followed by a team autograph session at 4:15 p.m.…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 5:45 p.m., on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android…The broadcast is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the MiLB Inside the Park and Tune-In Radio Apps.
