Chiefs Beat Garza, Rattlers Tuesday

Peoria, IL - The Peoria Chiefs scored three runs in the second inning off Major Leaguer Matt Garza and beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-1 on Tuesday night. The win moves the Chiefs into second place at 27-24 with two games left on the homestand.

     The Chiefs struck first in the second inning against Garza, a Milwaukee Brewers pitcher on rehab assignment with Wisconsin. Brian O'Keefe led off with an infield single back to Garza and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Chris Chinea singled to center to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Vaughn Bryan singled to put two on base and the Chiefs took a 3-0 lead when Leo Pina singled to right and Carlos Belonis missed the ball for a two-base error. Garza (0-1) was done after the second inning as he allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits with one strikeout in his first rehab start.

    Chiefs pitching kept Wisconsin off the scoreboard through seven innings. Juan Perez took over for Fernandez in the top of the seventh and stranded runners at the corners for the Timber Rattlers. Blake Allemand doubled to begin the eighth and with one out Isan Diaz singled to right. A groundout by Jake Gatewood got the Rattlers on the board and cut the Chiefs lead to 3-1.

     The Chiefs responded and put the game away in the bottom of the eighth against Marcos Diplan. Eli Alvarez tripled to right with one out and score when O'Keefe tripled to the wall in center. Chinea's second RBI single of the game put the Chiefs on top 5-1 to provide the final margin.

     Fernandez (5-3) earned the win as he pitching into the seventh with no runs allowed on three hits. He walked two, hit one and struck out eight. Perez allowed one run on two hits over two innings with one strikeouts. Stephen De La Cruz retired the Rattlers in order in the ninth.

 

Notes: The Chiefs move into sole possession of second place with the win...The Chiefs are three games above .500 for the first time all-season… The start time was delayed 50 minutes in anticipation of rain...Fernandez is 2-1 with three earned runs allowed in 21 innings against Wisconsin this season…He has 21 strikeouts against the Rattlers in those three outings…The Chiefs went 18-12 in May including 17-8 over the last 25 games and 6-2 over the last eight…O'Keefe has a hit in seven straight games and eight of his last 10 hits are multi-hit games…Chinea also has a seven-game hit streak…The Chiefs had two triples for the first time since April 28 at Fort Wayne…Alvarez is tied for fifth in the MWL with four triples…The Chiefs are 9-0 in the first game of a home series…The Chiefs are 18-1 when scoring at least five runs…Garza is the third MLB pitcher to rehab against the Chiefs at Dozer Park joining Brian Tallet (Quad Cities 2011) and Wei-Chung Wang (Wisconsin 2014)…Garza is now 1-1 in his career against the Chiefs after a 2005 win as a member of the Beloit Snappers after he was drafted in the first round that year by the Minnesota Twins...The series continues Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. as the Chiefs start RHP Ryan Helsley (3-1, 2.30) against Rattlers RHP David Burkhalter (3-2, 1.99)…Wednesday is a Hebrew National Dollar Dog WinsDay…Hot Dogs, Ice Cream Sandwiches and Fountain Sodas are $1.00…If the Chiefs win all fans get a free ticket to a Monday through Wednesday regular season home game…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:45 p.m. on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android…The broadcast is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the Tune-In Radio App.