McKnight and Polanco Combine for One-Hit Shutout

PEORIA, IL- Blake McKnight and Jhonny Polanco combined on a one-hit shutout as the Peoria Chiefs scored the only run of the game in the eighth inning to defeat the Lansing Lugnuts 1-0 on Friday Night. The Chiefs are 18-15 in the second half and 55-47 overall.

   The story of the game was pitching for both sides. McKnight set a season high and matched his career high with seven innings pitched. He also set a season high with six strikeouts. The only hit he allowed was a single by DJ Davis in the second inning and he retired the last seven batters he faced and 17 of his final 18.

   Brad Allen started for the Lugnuts and pitched five scoreless innings allowing four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. The Chiefs missed some opportunities to score against Allen and reliever Alonzo Gonzalez. Carson Kelly had a two-out double and Rowan Wick walked in the first before Ronald Castillo flew out to end the inning. In the third, CJ McElroy Jr. had an infield single, advanced to second on a throwing error and stole third, but Kelly and Wick made outs to end that threat. Richy Pedroza led off the fifth with a triple but didn't score and Cesar Valera began the seventh with an infield single, took second on a throwing error and was sacrificed to third with one out but also didn't score.

   The only run of the game was scored by the Chiefs in the eighth inning. Wick singled with one out against Gonzalez and Roberto Espinosa took over on the mound. After Castillo struck out, Wick stole second before Justin Ringo singled to left to break the scoreless tie.

   Lansing threatened in the ninth with a one-out walk by Derrick Loveless. He moved to second on a grounder but Polanco got Matt Dean to hit a grounder to short to end the one-hitter.

   McKnight pitched seven innings of scoreless ball allowing one hit with two walks and six strikeouts. Polanco (3-0) tossed the final two shutout frames with one walk and two strikeouts to earn the win.

Notes: The last one-hitter thrown by the Chiefs was by Cam Greathouse and Yohan Gonzalez on May 4, 2011 in a 3-0 win against Clinton… The seven shutout innings is McKnight's longest outing without allowing a run in his career while the one hit allowed is a career low…McElroy stole his 27th base which ties him with Juan Herrera for the team lead…McElroy and Herrera are tied for ninth in steals in the Midwest League and tied for first among all Cardinals minor leaguers…Chiefs starting pitchers of Alex Reyes, Chase Brookshire and McKnight allowed one run in 20 innings for a 0.45 ERA in the series…The Chiefs have won four of the five games played to a 1-0 score…The Chiefs are 16-16 in the last game of a series and 8-8 both home and road…Chiefs relief pitchers are 26-13…The Chiefs have won 13 games in their last at bat…The Chiefs tied Kane County for the most shutout wins with ten…Six of the Chiefs last seven games have been decided by one run with the Chiefs 2-4 in those games…The Chiefs begin a three-game series with the Great Lakes Loons Saturday at 7:00 p.m….RHP Luis Perdomo (1-1, 5.16) starts for the Chiefs against RHP Zachary Bird (4-11, 4.06) for the Loons…The first 1,000 fans will receive a Jason Motte Bobblehead…NBA star and Peoria Central High School alum Shaun Livingston will make an appearance presented by Budweiser… Livingston will throw out a first pitch and sign autographs…Autographs are $10 for a picture, $15 for a mini-basketball, $25 for a full-size basketball and $50 for a jersey…All proceeds will benefit the Shaun Livingston Foundation for family and youth outreach in central Illinois…The Zooperstars, "The World's Best Sports Entertainment Act" will also be performing throughout the game…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:40 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.