Chiefs Bats Stymied Again Saturday
DAVENPORT, IA– The Peoria Chiefs were flummoxed by Quad Cities pitching again Saturday in a 3-1 loss to the River Bandits. Peoria was held to just five hits a night after being limited to three knocks. The loss represented the Chiefs sixth consecutive defeat and fifth in a row to
DAVENPORT, IA– The Peoria Chiefs were flummoxed by Quad Cities pitching again Saturday in a 3-1 loss to the River Bandits.
Peoria was held to just five hits a night after being limited to three knocks. The loss represented the Chiefs sixth consecutive defeat and fifth in a row to Quad Cities.
Saturday’s contest featured a pair of lefty hurlers who were on their games early. Former Royals first-round selection Frank Mozzicato took the ball for Quad Cities and retired the first six batters he faced. Chiefs starter Pete Hansen retired six in a row after a lead-off double.
Quad Cities provided the first blow in the bottom of the third. With two men out, Carson Roccaforte homered off the batter’s eye in center field to make it 1-0. Roccaforte finished with three hits Saturday and a triple shy of the cycle.
The Chiefs could not figure off the 20-year old Mozzicato. He surrendered just one hit over five innings, a solid single to Leonardo Bernal, and whiffed eight Peoria batters to earn the win.
In the home half of the fifth, the bottom of the Quad Cities order pieced together a string of hits to lead to insurance runs. A Justin Johnson double was followed up by a Dustin Dickerson double to boost the lead to 2-0. Then, after an infield hit, Roccaforte chopped one through the right side to make it 3-0. Hansen responded by retiring the next three batters to limit the damage and keep the Chiefs in the contest. The southpaw whiffed seven over five innings of work.
As they’ve done all week, the Chiefs staged an uprising against the Quad Cities bullpen. In the top of the seventh, back-to-back two out hits from Brody Moore and Joshua Baez set up a Luis Rodriguez single to plate Moore and get the Chiefs a run closer at 3-1.
Peoria again made it interesting in the ninth against Quad Cities hurler Henry Williams. After two walks, William Sullivan entered as a pinch-hitter to represent the go-ahead run. After getting behind in the count, Williams came back to strike out Sullivan and end the threat. Williams recorded all 12 outs in relief to earn the save.
The Chiefs will look to avoid the series sweep on Sunday when they send Inohan Paniagua to the mound for his second start of the series. The finale is set for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.