Chiefs Lose On Walk-Off Single

Site: LMCU Ballpark (Comstock Park, MI)

Score: West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Peoria Chiefs 5

Records: West Michigan (51-54), Peoria (39-66)

Comstock Park, MI-- A walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning doomed the Chiefs in a 6-5 loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps Thursday night. It was Peoria’s third consecutive loss to begin the series and their sixth loss to the Whitecaps on the season.

The Chiefs again scored first, scratching a third inning run. After Tyler Reichenborn doubled to center to begin the inning, he advanced to third on a wild pitch by Jack O’Loughlin with no outs in the inning. Francisco Hernandez followed with a line drive single up the middle to score Reichenborn to make it 1-0 Peoria.

Peoria’s lead did not last for long. After Austin Murr singled to begin the bottom half of the inning, Jake Holton smacked a line drive over the head of Chiefs left fielder Matt Chamberlain. With the ball seemingly stuck underneath the fence, Chamberlain raised his hands to signal a dead ball. Base umpire Tom O’Neil called it a live ball, resulting in a two-run inside-the-park home run to put the Whitecaps out in front 2-1.

Despite the hiccup, Lunn managed to keep the Chiefs in the ballgame. The right-hander retired his final eight batters on the night and struck out eight Whitecaps hitters in five innings of work. Lunn featured a plus curveball throughout his outing and threw 63 of 82 pitches for strikes.

Lunn left the game in line for a no-decision after Peoria tied the game in the sixth inning. Two straight walks by Francisco Hernandez and Matt Chamberlain started the inning for the Chiefs. Hernandez advanced to third on a Jordan Walker groundout and advanced home a batter later on a wild pitch to tie the ballgame at 2-2.

With Diego Cordero replacing Lunn on the mound, West Michigan put two runners on in the sixth inning. However, both runners were picked off by Cordero, who escaped the inning unscathed.

West Michigan tacked on a run in the seventh inning. Rey Rivera led off with an infield single down the third base line. A sacrifice bunt and two consecutive singles scored Rivera to make it 3-2 Whitecaps.

Peoria mounted a successful threat in the ninth inning, as they sent eight batters to the plate and scored a pair of runs. Todd Lott started things off with a single and would be forced out at second base on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jacob Buchberger, who then proceeded to steal second base in the following at bat. Two walks from Zade Richardson and Francisco Hernandez loaded the bases for Matt Chamberlain. With the Chiefs down to their final strike, Chamberlain tied the game at 3-3 on the Chiefs third walk of the inning. The Chiefs took to the lead on an error by Whitecaps third baseman Colt Keith to make it a 4-3 ballgame.

Paul Schwendel ran into trouble trying to close out the ballgame. A leadoff double by Jimmy Kerr started the ninth inning for West Michigan. Kerr advanced to third on a sacrifice fly and walked home on a balk. The ballgame was once again tied, this time at 4-4.

Pedro Pages led off the tenth inning with a single to center field to advance Jhon Torres to third base. Torres was driven in by an RBI single off the bat of Jacob Buchberger. The Michigan native’s clutch hit made it 5-4 Peoria. But West Michigan quickly tied the game at 5-5 on a bloop single off the bat of Colt Keith. The game came to an end one batter later as Rey Rivera’s single scored Keith from second to secure a 6-5 win for the Whitecaps.

The two teams will continue the series tomorrow night. Wilfredo Pereira is scheduled to take the hill for the Chiefs. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM CT.

Single-Game Ticket Information

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The Peoria Chiefs are locally owned and operated and play their games at Dozer Park. The Chiefs are a committed community asset and premier entertainment venue for families and individuals in Central Illinois.