Chiefs Fall Saturday

Peoria, IL - The Peoria Chiefs late rally came up short in a 9-7 loss to South Bend on Saturday night in front of the largest crowd of the season. The Chiefs drop to 13-13 overall with the series and homestand finale set for Sunday.

  The Chiefs jumped out to an early lead on Chicago's top 10 prospect Brendon Little in the bottom of the first. Scott Hurst led off with a double to left and moved to third on a groundout by Irving Lopez. Yariel Gonzalez brought Hurst home on a flare to left field to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead.
    South Bend tied the game in the top of the second against Chiefs starter Zach Prendergast. Michael Cruz hit a home run to right field with one out to bring the score even at 1-1.
    The visitors took the lead in the top of the third as Yeiler Peguero led off with a triple. Zach Davis was hit by a pitch and stole second base to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Both runners scored on a double lofted to left by Jared Young for a 3-1 South Bend advantage. Austin Filiere reached on a fielding error by first baseman Juan Yepez to put runners at the corners. South Bend widened the lead to 4-1 as Young scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Miguel Amaya.
    Peoria answered back in the bottom of the third as Hurst drew a leadoff and scored on a triple by Irving Lopez. Gonzalez drove in Lopez on a sacrifice fly to center to cut South Bend's lead to 4-3.
    The Chiefs tied it up in the bottom of the fourth. Nick Plummer reached on an infield single with one out and Elehuris Montero singled to center with two outs to put runners at the corners. Hurst knocked in Plummer on a single up the middle as the score knotted up 4-4.
    The back and forth game continued in the top of the fifth. Filiere hit a solo home run over the left field wall for a 5-4 South Bend lead.
    South Bend added to their lead in the top of the sixth against reliever Winston Nicacio. Jhonny Bethencourt and Singleton walked for Peguero to drive in Bethencourt on a double to the right field corner. Up 6-4, Zach Davis delivered a single to score Singleton and Peguero for an 8-4 South Bend advantage.
    Another Chiefs run came in bottom of the sixth inning with Little still on the mound for South Bend. Plummer tripled and was brought home on a ground out by Taylor Bryant to trim the deficit to 8-5.
    The visitors got a run back in the top of the seventh via the longball again. Young led off the inning with a solo home run over the right field wall to extend the South Bend lead to 9-5.
    Peoria got a run in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Ben Hecht. Lopez drew a walk and moved to third on a wild pitch followed by a ground out. Yepez brought Lopez around on a sacrifice fly to right field as the South Bend lead dwindled to 9-6.
    The Chiefs added another run without recording a hit in the bottom of the eighth. Plummer drew a one-out walk, promptly stole second and moved to third on a fly ball to right. He scored on a wild pitch that ended Hecht's night to draw the hosts within two trailing 9-7.
    Brendan King came in for the save as Peoria tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth. Gonzalez singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. Yepez flew out to right to move Gonzalez to third, as the tying run Julio Rodriguez came up to the plate and struck out to end the game.
    Zach Prendergast (3-1) took the loss throwing five innings, surrendering four earned runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Nicacio pitched the remaining four innings, letting up four runs on four hits with two walks and no strikeouts.
Notes…Yepez has reached base in 18 straight games and leads the team with 20 RBI…Gonzalez recorded his third multi-RBI game of the season…Rodriguez had his eight-game hitting streak and six game RBI streak snap… Hurst has a eight-game hitting streak…The Chiefs lost at home wearing their baby blue jerseys for the first time this season…The Chiefs are 2-8 when allowing more than five runs in a game…The Chiefs are 9-6 when scoring five or more…Peoria is 8-5 when scoring first…Prendgergast struck out a season-high six…He took his first loss of the season…The series finale starts at 2:00 p.m. Sunday… Sunday is Bark in the Park and the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a select Chiefs player poster… It is a family Sunday with $5 tickets for kids 12 and under plus kids can run the bases post-game… Kids can play catch on the field before the game, starting when gates open and all fans cane receive post-game autographs on the concourse…. Seniors 55 and over can get $5 tickets… The Chiefs will start RH Jake Walsh (1-0, 2.74) against South Bend RH Rollie Lacy (0-0 1.93) …The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 1:45 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenliveand is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App…The game is also available on MiLB.tv for subscribers.