By WJBC Staff
PEORIA – The Peoria Chiefs gave up four runs in the first three innings and eventually lost 9-5 to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Sunday.
The loss drops the Chiefs to 35-20 in the second half and 68-55 overall, with their magic number at four as they begin a six-game road trip Monday.
Wisconsin took the lead in the first against Chiefs starter Landon Beck. Tucker Neuhaus led off with a double and scored on a triple by Sthervin Matos for the 1-0 lead. Matos scored on a single by Greg McCall to give the Timber Rattlers a 2-0 advantage.
The Timber Rattlers doubled their lead to 4-0 in the third. Blake Allemand led off with a single and moved to third on a single by Neuhaus. Allemand scored on an infield single by Matos for the 3-0 lead. Neuhaus and Matos moved up to third and second respectively on a wild pitch and McCall walked to load the bases. Neuhaus scored on a wild pitch by Beck to give Wisconsin the 4-0 lead.
The Chiefs got on the board in the third against Wisconsin starter Josh Uhen. With two outs Darren Seferina singled and Oscar Mercado doubled, and both came home on a double by Paul DeJong to cut the Timber Rattlers lead to 4-2.
The Timber Rattlers scored another run in the sixth against the Peoria bullpen. With two out Cotto and Allemand hit back-to-back singles to put runners at first and third. Cotto scored on a double steal to give Wisconsin the 5-2 lead.
The Timber Rattlers added another run in the seventh. Neuhaus led off with a single and scored on a triple by Matos for the 6-2 Timber Rattlers lead.
The Timber Rattlers added two more to their lead in the eighth inning. Mitch Meyer led off with a walk and moved to third on a single by Natanael Mejia. After a Cotto walk Meyer and Mejia scored on a single by Allemand for the 8-2 Wisconsin lead. Wisconsin added another run in the ninth. Matos led off and reached on an error, and he scored on a double by McCall to make it 9-2.
The Chiefs rallied for three in the bottom of the ninth. With one out Nick Thompson singled and Steve Bean walked. Thompson scored on a double by Derek Gibson to cut the Wisconsin lead to 9-3. Bean scored from third on a wild pitch and Gibson came home on a single by Darren Seferina to trim the gap to 9-5.
Beck (0-1) started and took the loss in his Chiefs debut, allowing four runs on seven hits and one walk over three innings. Steve Sabatino pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out one. Nick Frey pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits, striking out two. Tyler Bray pitched two innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits and two walks, striking out three.
