First Inning Dooms Chiefs on Wednesday
A nightmarish bottom of the first inning put the Chiefs and Austin Kirk in a big hole. Ryan Pineda started the inning with a grounder to third and he was safe as Anthony Giansanti threw high to first base for an error. Nino Leyja drew an eight-pitch walk and the Bees pulled off a double steal. Douglas Landaeta responded with a line drive homer that just cleared the left-field wall for a 3-0 Burlington lead. Tony Thompson connected with the next pitch for a solo homer that cleared both sets of billboards in left field for a 4-0 lead. Jose Rivero reached on an infield single to third and stole second. On the steal, Sergio Burruel's throw went into center field allowing Rivero to head for third. As he slid into third head first, the throw from centerfielder Rubi Silva skipped past third and into the Bees dugout allowing Rivero to score for a 5-0 lead.
The Chiefs got on the board against Josh Bowman in the third inning. With one down, Arismendy Alcantara reached on a bunt single and Pierre LePage was hit by a pitch. Silva got the Chiefs on the board with a RBI single to right but LePage was thrown out at third for the second out of the inning.
Peoria got another run back against Bowman in the fourth. Smaily Borges reached on an infield single to start the inning and DJ Fitzgerald drew a walk. Borges moved to third on a flyout by Giansanti and scored on a sacrifice fly by Burruel to cut the deficit to 5-2.
The visitors kept the comeback going in the fifth against Bowman. A one out walk to Rubi Silva and a single by Greg Rohan put two on base for Borges. The Chiefs' rightfielder singled to center to score Silva for a 5-3 game. After a popup, Giansanti reached on an infield single to load the bases but Bowman got Burruel to fly out to end the frame.
Burlington got on the board again against reliever Yohan Gonzalez in the bottom of the fifth. Landaeta reached on a single to left but was out on a double play off the bat of Thompson. Rivero blasted his first homer of the season over the wall in left for a 6-3 Bees lead to stop the Peoria momentum.
The Chiefs responded immediately in the sixth against reliever Zach Thornton. After two quick outs, LePage reached on an infield single to third and he moved to second on a passed ball. Silva singled through the left side to score LePage to cut the Burlington lead to 6-4.
Burlington knocked Gonzalez out of the game and doubled the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Wade Kirkland was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Yordy Cabrera singled past the glove of Alcantara at shortstop. After back-to-back outs, Gonzalez walked Nino Leyja after a home run distance foul ball down the left-field line. Bryce Shafer relieved Gonzalez and Landaeta greeted the right-hander with a two-run single to center for an 8-4 Burlington lead.
The Chiefs kept the offense going against Thornton in the seventh inning. Borges led off with his third single of the night and Fitzgerald doubled into the right-field corner. Giansanti drove home Borges with a groundout and Burruel's single scored Fitzgerald to cut the deficit to 8-6 before Thornton escaped the inning.
Peoria's rally in the ninth fell one run short. Borges led off with a double and moved to third as Fitzgerald reached on an error. Borges scored when Giansanti bounced into a double play. Burruel kept the inning going with a single to right but Chris Mederos retired Elliot Soto to end the game.
Kirk (0-1) lasted just three innings, throwing 67 pitches, and allowing five runs on four hits and two walks. Only three of the runs were earned as Kirk struck out five, hit one and allowed back-to-back home runs. Gonzalez allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out three, hit one and allowed a solo homer. Shafer allowed two hits and a walk in 2 1/3 innings while striking out three.
Casey's General Store Player of the Game - Smaily Borges - (RF) The oldest player on the Chiefs roster delivered the first four-hit game of the season. He singled and scored in the fourth, singled home a run in the fifth, singled and scored in the seventh and doubled and scored in the ninth.
Notes... Richard Jones missed his third straight game after being hit by a pitch in the right ankle on Sunday afternoon...Silva has hit safely in all seven Chiefs games this season and he and Thompson of the Bees are the only two players in the MWL to have a hit in all seven games this season...Silva has three multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games in his first seven games as a pro...The Chiefs leadoff man has reached base in the first inning in five of seven games with four hits and one hit by pitch...Matt Szczur singled to start the first two games in Burlington and LePage singled in the first tonight...Peoria allowed two stolen bases Wednesday night and they have not thrown out a base stealer in 12 attempts this season...The Chiefs have had at least 10 hits in five of their seven games this season...Every Chiefs starter had at least one hit on Wednesday night while LePage, Burruel and Silva had two and Borges had four...The four hits for Borges are a career-high and a Chiefs team season high...Peoria has turned eight double plays in the last three games and they lead the MWL with 11 turned on the season...The four-game series concludes on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Community Field...The Chiefs will send RH Dallas Beeler (0-0, 0.00) to the hill against Burlington RH A.J. Griffin (0-0, 3.00)...The game can be heard starting with the pre-game show at 6:15 PM on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for an iPhone and iPad app.