Chiefs Fall 7-1 at Beloit on Wednesday

Beloit, WI - The Peoria Chiefs didn't get a runner past first base until scoring in the ninth inning in a 7-1 loss to the Beloit Snappers in the opener of a three-game road series Wednesday night. The loss drops the Chiefs to 22-17 in the second half and 52-56 overall with two games left in the series.
     Beloit jumped on Chiefs starter Austin Warner in the bottom of the first inning to take the lead. Mike Martin led off with a single and moved to second when Luke Persico walked with one out. Josh Vidales singled to left-center to score Martin with two outs for the 1-0 Snappers lead.

    The Chiefs didn't get much going against Snappers ace Zach Erwin at all. After the first six batters were retired, Matt Fiedler led off the third with a single to center. However he was left at third on a pop-up and two strikeouts. Stefan Trosclair led off the fourth with a single to right but he was caught stealing on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play to end the inning. Juan Yepez led off the fifth with a walk but didn't move from first and Erwin dry a career-high with nine strikeouts over six innings.
     Beloit broke the game wide open in the middle innings with consecutive three-run frames. In the fifth, Martin led off with a single and moved to third on a single from Trace Loehr. Persico, the #3 hitter in the lineup laid down a sacrifice bunt with no outs and Martin scored on the play for a 2- 0 lead. Kyle Nowlin singled home Loehr for a 3-0 lead and two batters later Edwin Diaz ended Warner's night with a RBI single to center.
    Leading 4-0, Beloit added on in the sixth against reliever Bryan Dobzanski. With two outs and nobody on, Loehr tripled to right and left the game after being injured on the slide into third. Persico singled home pinch-runner JC Rodriguez for a 5-0 lead and Beloit loaded the bsaes on a single and a walk. Miguel Mercedes singled to center for a 7-0 Snappers lead before Leland Tilley came in for Dobzanski and got out of the inning.
  Peoria got their first runner past first base in the ninth inning against reliever Heath Bowers. Trosclair led off with a walk and took second on defensive indifference before Danny Hudzina grounded out. Trosclair took third on a balk and scored on an infield single by Brian O'Keefe to make the score 7-1. Yepez singled to move O'Keefe to third but a double play off the bat of Dylan Carlson ended the game.
    Warner (1-2) allowed four runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings while suffering his second straight loss. He walked two and struck out eight in his third Chiefs start. Dobzanski allowed three runs on five hits over one inning while walking one. Tilley walked one over 2 1/3 shutout and hitless innings while striking out two.
Notes… The Chiefs have allowed a run in the first inning in five of the last eight games and the opponent has scored first in six of the last eight games…The Chiefs were 2-for-4 with a runner in scoring position...Peoria had not been to Beloit since April 14…They lead the season series 8-7 with two games left…Warner tied a career-high from July 10 in the Gulf Coast League with eight strikeouts…The Chiefs are 15-19 in the first game of a series, 8-9 on the road with losses in the last four road openers…Peoria was out-hit 14-3…The Chiefs have been shutout 10 times this season, tied for third most (Lake County 13, Cedar Rapids 11) in the MWL…Nick Plummer has been hit by a team-high 11 pitches…Peoria is 1-5 on the road on Wednesday…The series continues Thursday at 7:00 p.m. as the Chiefs send RH Anthony Shew (0-0, 4.30) to the mound against Snappers RH Seth Martinez (4-5, 2.60)…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:45 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 Radio Network in the Tune-In Radio App.