Chiefs on Wrong End of 1-0 Decision

DAVENPORT, IA– A Dustin Dickerson sacrifice fly in the home half of the seventh inning was the difference in a 1-0 Quad Cities win over the Chiefs on Thursday at Modern Woodmen Park.

Dickerson’s sac fly was the decisive blow in a game that featured a pair of highly touted pitching prospects.

After a 46-minute rain delay, Cardinals No. 6 prospect Cooper Hjerpe took the ball for Peoria and went toe-to-toe with reigning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week and Royals No. 3 prospect Ben Kudrna.

Kudrna whiffed five Chiefs batters over his first two innings Thursday. Hjerpe dialed up a double play in the bottom of the second and cruised early while maneuvering through soft contact.

As the game wore on, Hjerpe found his strikeout stuff. The southpaw whiffed a pair of Quad Cities batters in the third and punched out the side in the fourth inning. The former first-round pick departed after four scoreless innings. Hjerpe struck out seven batters Thursday, one off his career high.

Kudrna ended his night by stranding a Peoria runner in scoring position to get out of the fifth inning. Kudrna allowed just three hits and punched out eight Chiefs batters.

Cade Winquest entered out of the Peoria ‘pen and kept the Quad Cities bats quiet before running into trouble in the seventh. A walk, a single and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Dickerson. The shortstop redeemed himself from two earlier strikeouts to drive in the game’s only run.

Peoria had a pair of rally chances late. In the eighth, Joshua Baez led off the inning with a single but was later stranded at third base. In the top of the ninth, Zach Levenson led off the frame with a solid single but was later erased as part of a double play. Levenson added two hits Thursday to push his hit streak to 10 games, the longest streak in the Midwest League this season.

The series continues Friday in Davenport. Hancel Rincon will start for Peoria as he goes for his second consecutive win. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.