By WJBC Staff
BURLINGTON, Iowa – The Peoria Chiefs scored early and swept the Burlington Bees 6-3 Monday night for their seventh straight road win.
The win moves the Chiefs to 16-9 in the second half and 49-44 overall heading into a six-game home stand.
The Chiefs took advantage of Burlington’s wildness in the top of the first inning. Paul DeJong singled with one out and advanced all the way to
third on an errant pickoff throw by pitcher Austin Robichaux. Harrison Bader walked and stole second and the Chiefs took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly to center by Alex DeLeon.
Peoria loaded the bases in the second on an error, walk and hit batter but couldn’t add to the lead with a strikeout and pop up. The Chiefs did add on in the third inning against Robichaux. DeJong led off with a single to left and Bader was hit by a pitch. DeLeon delivered his second RBI of the night with a single to left for a 2-0 Chiefs lead.
The Chiefs broke the game open in the fifth as Burlington replaced Robichaux with reliever Eric Alonso. Nick Thompson led off with a triple and scored on a one-out double down the first-base line by Luis Cruz. With the Chiefs up 3-0, Kenny Peoples-Walls was hit by a pitch and Oscar Mercado’s double to right-center put the Chiefs on top 5-0.
Peoria added on in the next inning against Alonso after the Bees left runners at the corners in the fifth. Thompson drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a balk. After a strikeout, Cruz delivered his second run-scoring hit of the night with a single to left for a 6-0 Chiefs lead.
Burlington finally broke through against Chiefs starter Matt Pearce in the sixth inning. Tim Arakawa led off with a double to center and Jake Yacinich reached on a grounder back to the mound. Arakawa scored and Yacinich went to second when Pearce’s throw to first on the grounder sailed down the first-base line. Jhonny Polanco came out of the Chiefs bullpen and Yacinich eventually scored on a double play ball to cut the Chiefs lead to 6-2. The Bees got another run back in the seventh on a solo homer by Wade Wass.
Pearce (6-9) allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits over five innings of work to earn the win. He did not walk a batter for the sixth straight start while striking out two. Polanco allowed one run on two hits and a walk while striking out four over two innings of work. Kevin Alexander threw a perfect eighth inning. Kyle Grana earned his 13th save of the season with a perfect ninth inning.
