Chiefs offense falls silent as Cubs’ bats cruise past Peoria
While Peoria played well in cooler weather in the first contest of the six-game set on Tuesday, South Bend heated up at the plate to defeat the Chiefs 13-1 on Wednesday night at Dozer Park. The loss drops Peoria to 2-3, meanwhile South Bend (1-1) picked up its first win
While Peoria played well in cooler weather in the first contest of the six-game set on Tuesday, South Bend heated up at the plate to defeat the Chiefs 13-1 on Wednesday night at Dozer Park.
The loss drops Peoria to 2-3, meanwhile South Bend (1-1) picked up its first win of the year.
Brooke Caple set the tone for the Cubs. The right-hander went five innings while allowing one unearned run on one hit, no walks and seven strikeouts. Caple earned the win after he recorded a loss in both starts at Dozer Park last year.
South Bend took the lead in the third inning. Angel Cepeda drove in Justin Stransky and Kane Kepley on a two-RBI knock. In response, Peoria’s Tai Peete doubled in Jose Cordoba for the Chiefs’ lone run of the night in the bottom of the frame.
The Cubs added three more runs in the fourth to grow the lead to 5-1. Reginald Preciado crushed a solo home run to left field. Stransky brought in Drew Browser on a sacrifice fly to center field. Cepeda reeled in Kepley on a base hit.
The Cubs didn’t stop with a three-run fifth. Bowser doubled in Owen Ayers and Leonel Espinoza on his second two-bagger of the contest. The very next at-bat, Stransky drove in Bowers to make it 8-1.
In the seventh inning, Stransky hooked a 3-run shot just inside the left field foul pole to extend the advantage to 11-1. The catcher ended the game with five RBIs.
The top of the eighth featured two more Cubs runs. Ayers reached on Baéz’s second fielding error of the game, scoring Cepeda. Matt Halbach singled and scored Kade Snell.
Peete recorded the only two hits of the contest for the Chiefs. Cubs pitching held the Chiefs without a walk after Peoria drew seven in a 10-1 win on Tuesday.
Game three arrives Thursday at 6:35 P.M. at Dozer Park. Tickets are available online at PeoriaChiefs.com or at the Dozer Park box office. It’s the first bucks for brews night of the season, featuring two-dollar domestic draft beer and four-dollar craft beers.
Fans can listen to the call for free online on PeoriaChiefs.com or watch on MiLB.TV and the Bally Sports Live App.