Rodriguez Punches Out Seven, Chiefs Fall 4-3

Davenport, IA – Chiefs right-hander Dionys Rodriguez punched out seven Quad Cities batters Thursday but a three-run seventh inning propelled the River Bandits to a 4-3 win over the Chiefs to send Peoria to their eighth-straight loss.

After Rodriguez punched out the first two batters he faced, a two-out rally gave Quad Cities an early lead. Following a double and a walk, Morgan McCullough singled into right to plate Diego Hernandez and make it 1-0 in favor of the home team.

From there, Rodriguez settled in. He worked through an uneventful second and third innings before he flexed his muscles in the fourth. After a lead-off triple from McCullough, Quad Cities placed runners on the corners with nobody out. Rodriguez then retired Parker Bates on a shallow fly to center, which held McCullough at third. Then, the Peoria starter struck out Burle Dixon on three pitches for the second out of the inning. He then needed only one pitch to retire Rubendy Jaquez to record a scoreless fourth.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs were stymied by Quad Cities sinkerballer Charlie Neuweiler. After being held scoreless through five innings, Peoria broke through in the sixth. With the bases empty and two outs in the frame, Osvaldo Tovalin mashed his second homer of the year to tie the game, 1-1.

Rodriguez came back out for the bottom of the sixth and faced the minimum to put up his fifth-straight scoreless frame. All told, the right-hander worked six innings of one-run ball while punching out seven, one off his season high.

With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Quad Cities did their damage. Peoria hurler Chris Roycroft, who made his organizational debut Thursday, allowed the first three men to reach on an error, a single and a walk. With the bases loaded, Peyton Wilson smashed a solid single to move the Bandits in front, 2-1. Andre Granillo then entered for Peoria and allowed two more runs to score on a pair of fielder’s choices.

Leading 4-1 entering the eighth, Peoria made things interesting. After a pair of walks kicked off the inning, a check swing single from Tovalin plated Mack Chambers to cut the deficit to 4-2. The Chiefs had two cracks with the go-ahead run at the plate but ultimately came up empty.

In the ninth, Peoria scratched a run but never got the tying-run on base. Carlos Soto walked and advanced to second on a balk. He moved to third on a groundout before scoring on a Thomas Francisco sac fly. With the score at 4-3, Chambers flied out to right to end the ballgame.

Logan Gragg will take the mound for the Chiefs Friday in an effort to end the Peoria losing streak. First pitch is set for 6:30 from Modern Woodmen Park.