Chiefs spoil a gem by Medeiros and a record crowd
GRAND CHUTE, WI - Kodi Medeiros showed a record crowd at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium why the Milwaukee Brewers selected him with the twelfth pick in the 2014 MLB Entry draft. The young left-hander out of Hawaii tossed six no-hit innings and struck out seven Peoria Chiefs hitters before leaving with a 1-0 lead. But, the Chiefs exploded for seven runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth for an 11-1 victory.
Medeiros used 63 pitches (47 strikes) to work his six innings and no Peoria runner went past first base. The only Chief batters to reach were Collin Radack on an error in the second and Danny Diekroger on a walk in the fourth. Medeiros matched his career high for strikeouts in a game as a professional with seven in his performance on Sunday.
Wisconsin (0-4) grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jose Pena walked and was sacrificed to second base by Luis Aviles. Monte Harrison was next and he doubled to send Pena home for a 1-0 lead. Harrison was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks to go with his RBI double.
The Rattlers had many chances to put more runs on the board. The would leave the bases loaded in the third and sixth innings without scoring. Wisconsin went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded a total of eleven in the game.
That didn't look like it would matter as David Burkhalter entered the game in the top of the seventh and worked around a two out walk to pitch a scoreless, hitless inning to take the no-hit bid into the eighth.
Peoria (2-2) crushed the hopes of the largest Opening Day crowd in the history of Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in the top of the eighth inning.
Radack started the inning with a triple against Burkhalter. Steve Bean reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners. Blake Drake followed with a double to drive in Radack with the tying run. Darren Seferina was next and he singled to drive in Bean with the go-ahead run and put runners on the corners with no out.
Seferina and Drake pulled of a double steal that saw Drake score and Seferina taking third on an errant throw home. Magnierus Sierra completed the streak of five straight Peoria hits with an RBI triple to make it 5-1 Peoria. Oscar Mercado hit a sacrifice fly to send Sierra home with the sixth run of the inning on the first out of the frame.
Harvey Martin relieved Burkhalter after a two out single by Nick Thompson. Martin allowed an RBI double to Alex DeLeon and an RBI single to Radack before getting the final out of the frame. But, the damage had been done. Peoria scored seven runs on eight hits as they sent eleven men to the plate in the eighth inning.
Peoria tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth inning. The first three runs came against Martin as Drake scored on a wild pitch and Mercado hit a two-run homer to left. DeLeon knocked in the final run of the game with an RBI single off Tyler Linehan.
The new franchise attendance mark of 5,954 that was set on Sunday eclipsed the old record of 5,487. The previous record was set on April 9, 2009 in Wisconsin's first ever game as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Dustin DeMuth led the Timber Rattlers offense with three of the team's six hits.
Game two of the series is set for Monday night. Lefty Luis Ortega makes his Timber Rattlers debut as the starting pitcher. Peoria counters with Matt Pearce as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm.
Monday is a Qdoba Q*Monday. Purchase a lunch entrée at any Qdoba location in Appleton, Neenah, or Oshkosh on Monday and receive a ticket to any Monday home game during the 2015 season courtesy of NASH-FM 99.5 & 104.9.
If you can't make it to the stadium, there are several ways to catch the action.
MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting with their pregame show at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The game is also available on the internet through TuneIn Radio or MiLB.TV.
HOME RUN:
PEO:
Oscar Mercado (1st, 1 on in 9th inning off Harvey Martin, 1 out)
WP: Fernando Baez (1-1)
LP: David Burkhalter (0-1)
TIME: 3:15
ATTN: 5,954