Bernal's Big Night Leads Chiefs Past TinCaps

FORT WAYNE, IN – Switch-hitting catcher Leonardo Bernal homered twice and the Chiefs scored seven unanswered runs in a 7-3 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Wednesday.

The Peoria offense struggled through five innings and trailed 3-0 entering the sixth. A Zach Levenson walk and an Alex Iadisernia single put Peoria runners at first and second with no one out. As he did for much of the night, Fort Wayne starter Jagger Haynes looked to wiggle out of trouble again. With two down in the frame, Bernal had other ideas. His three-run homer to left tied the score at 3-3.

An inning later, the Chiefs again turned to the long ball. With Dakota Harris at third, Joshua Baez mashed his sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot to straightaway center to give the Chiefs their first lead, 5-3. It was Baez’s fourth home run dating back to May 21. The long ball was served up by Fort Wayne’s Cole Paplham, a rehabbing reliever from San Diego’s Double-A San Antonio affiliate. He was later tagged with the loss.

Bernal stepped in from the right side again in the eighth inning and connected on his second blast of the contest to push the Peoria lead to 6-3. Bernal joined Michael Curialle as the only Chiefs batters to record multi-homer games this season.

Peoria again scored some insurance in the night. Brody Moore recorded another multi-hit game on Wednesday. His second hit, a solid single, scored Levenson to bolster the lead to 7-3.

Fort Wayne again did damage in the opening inning Wednesday, this time against reigning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week Quinn Mathews. Ethan Salas, baseball’s top catching prospect at just 18 years old, tripled off the wall in right center to give the TinCaps a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, a Tyler Robertson infield single scored Sals to jump start Fort Wayne to a 2-0 advantage.

From there, Mathews regained his ace form. The left-hander retired 11 of the next 12 batters he faced. A fifth-inning sac fly gave the TineCaps a 3-0 lead and was the only other blemish on Mathews’ line.

Mathews, announced Wednesday as a top 100 prospect by Baseball America, left the game after six innings of three-run ball. He whiffed eight Fort Wayne batters. Mathews earned his first career High-A win after the Baez homer in the seventh put Peoria ahead for good. Cade Winquest and Dionys Rodriguez, who earned a six-out save, teamed up to record the final nine outs in relief.

The series continues Thursday in Fort Wayne.