Peoria, IL-The Peoria Chiefs grabbed four runs early and rode an impressive start from Austin Gomber to beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-2 Saturday night. The win moves the Chiefs to 35-19 in the second half and 68-54 overall, reducing the Chiefs magic number to clinch a playoff spot to five.
The Chiefs grabbed three runs against Timber Rattlers starter Jon Perrin in the first inning. Darren Seferina and Paul DeJong singled and Seferina scored on a single by Harrison Bader for the 1-0 Chiefs lead. DeJong scored on a single by Brian O’Keefe and Bader came home on a single by Nick Thompson to give Peoria the 3-0 lead.
The Chiefs scored another run in the second inning with a two-out rally. Oscar Mercado singled, stole second and scored on a single by DeJong to make it 4-0.
Gomber was outstanding on the hill for the Chiefs. He did not allow a hit through the first four innings, giving up just two hits over six innings of work for his league-leading 14th win of the season, striking out a career-high 10.
The Timber Rattlers plated two runs in the ninth against Chiefs reliever Dixon Llorens. Luis Aviles walked, Tucker Neuhaus singled and Mitch Meyer walked to load the bases. Kyle Grana came in and issued an RBI walk to Sthervin Matos to make it 4-1. Neuhaus scored when Blake Allemand reached on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-2. Grana got Elvis Rubio to ground out to third to strand the tying run on base and end the game.
Gomber (14-3) hurled six shutout innings, scattering two hits and two walks, fanning 10 batters. Nick Lomascolo tossed a scoreless inning with one hit allowed, striking out one. Llorens pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on two hits and two walks. Grana earned his team-leading 20th save of the season with 2/3 of an inning, walking one.
Notes: The 10 strikeouts for Gomber tie a career-high set July 11 at Clinton and gives him 132 for the season, good for most in the Midwest League and tying him for 10th in Chiefs single-season history with Tyler Johnson, who struck out 132 batters for Peoria in 2002…The win also gives Gomber 14 to lead the league and tie him with four others for fifth most in a season in Chiefs history, most recently Sean Gallagher in 2005…Six innings pitched puts Gomber into fifth in the Midwest League and leaves him one out away from tying Kyle Helisek for most innings in a season by a Chiefs pitcher since 2012…GOmber has gone at least five innings in 19 consecutive starts and he is the only pitcher in Minor League Baseball to win 13 straight decisions…Grana is alone for second in the Midwest League with 20 saves, trailing only Zac Curtis of Kane County who has 28…DeJong notched two hits for his 15th multi-hit game of the season and O’Keefe had a pair of hits to give him seven multi-hit games in a Chiefs uniform this year…The Chiefs are 20-13 this year in two-run games and 52-15 when scoring first…The Chiefs and Timber Rattlers finish their series with the series rubber match Sunday afternoon at 5:00…The pitching matchup features Peoria RH Landon Beck (0-0, 0.00) in his Chiefs debut against Wisconsin RH Josh Uhen (1-3, 5.84)…Sunday will feature an Alex DeLeon player poster giveaway to the first 1,000 fans presented by the Peoria Journal Star…Sunday is Homer’s birthday party presented by City Link…It’s also another PNC Kids Eat Free Sunday with kids age 12 and under receiving a free hot dog, chips and a drink with a $5 admission…Fans can also play catch on the field and get player autographs prior to the game…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 4:45 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.
