Chiefs fend off Nuts’ late rally, 7-4

LANSING, Mich. – Andrew Williamson led off the game with a home run, Anyelo Encarnación went 4-for-4 with a single, double and two triples, and the Peoria Chiefs (24-27, 56-61) held off the Lansing Lugnuts (22-29, 51-64), 7-4, in front of a Friday night crowd of 6,268 at JacksonⓇ Field™.

Catcher Bryan Arendt went 2-for-3 with a walk, single and a three-run homer for Lansing, which had won the first three games of the series.

Bryan Arendt smashes his first High-A home run, and the Nuts are back in the ballgame! pic.twitter.com/zgYLEyPciw

— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) August 22, 2026

The Chiefs spent the first six innings building up a 5-1 lead thanks to Williamson’s homer and a Tristan Bissetta RBI single in the first, a Williamson sacrifice fly in the fourth, a Jalin Flores RBI single in the fifth, and a Ryan Weingartner RBI double in the sixth.

The Lugnuts had only one hit through five innings – an Arendt single in the fourth. In the sixth, Jake Reinisch and Jared Davis drew walks from Chiefs reliever Rubén Menes, bringing Arendt to the plate. On the first pitch of the at-bat, the North Carolina native sent a 409-foot, three-run blast to left field to cut the deficit to one. It was his first High-A home run.

But the Chiefs fired back with a two-run eighth, powered by an Anyelo Encarnación RBI triple and an Andrew Williamson RBI double, and stifled the Lugnuts’ offense to seal the win.

In his first start of the season, Jose Dicochea finished three innings, allowing four hits, two runs and three walks with three strikeouts. Riley Huge pitched two innings, giving up five hits and two runs before handing the mound to Tzu-Chen Sha. Sha fired two innings, allowing four hits, three runs and one walk with two strikeouts, and Abel Mercedes finished the game by blanking the Chiefs in the final two innings.

Reinisch drew three walks to extend his team-high on-base streak to 32 games.

Jorge Marcheco gets the start for Lansing on Friday, opposing Chiefs’ right-hander Jacob Odle. Lansing will celebrate its hispanic/latino community as it hosts Fiesta Locos, with live music, food vendors and a pre-game plaza party.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and the first 1,000 fans will receive a Sugar Skull bobblehead giveaway. It is also Faith and Family Night, and LAFCU fireworks are planned for after the game. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

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