Jones Enjoys Career Day, Chiefs Roll in Rain-Shortened Affair

Beloit, WI - LJ Jones tied a single-game franchise record with 8 RBIs Sunday as the Chiefs throttled the Beloit Sky Carp 14-1 in a rain-shortened contest. Sunday’s finale was ruled an official game after seven innings and a brief 30-minute delay. With the win, Peoria forced a split of the 18-game season series.

The Chiefs jumped out to an early lead in the blink of an eye in the matinee. Back-to-back singles from Todd Lott and Jacob Buchberger, who served as the table setters for much of the day, placed runners at the corners with no one out for Jones. His ringing double scored both men and the Chiefs had an early 2-0 cushion.

It was the second inning, however, where Peoria created some major separation. Tyler Reichenborn led off the frame with a double. After catcher Wade Stauss was hit by a pitch, Tommy Jew singled to left to load the bases for Lott. His second single in as many innings scored Reichenborn to make it a 3-0 contest. After a Buchberger fly out, Jones delivered in a big way. On an 0-2 pitch, Jones cranked a grand slam to left to open up the floodgates and push the lead to 7-0 in favor of Peoria. For Jones, it was his second grand slam of the year.

After the teams traded zeroes in the third, Jones was back for more in the fourth. With Buchberger at second and Lott at third, Jones found the gap in left center for his third hit, second double and RBIs seven and eight on the afternoon. The 23-year-old Jones joined Joe Jumonville, Andy Bevins and Dustin Geiger as the only players with 8 RBIs in a single game in franchise history.

With the Chiefs enjoying a 9-0 lead, the entire offense got in on the fun in the fifth inning. Jew singled in Ramon Mendoza to break the Chiefs into double digits and extend the lead to 10-0. Lott, the next batter, tripled home a pair on his second three-bagger of the season. Not to be outdone, Lott finished 4-for-5 with four runs scored, three RBIs and a stolen base. With the lead at 12-0, Buchberger brought Lott in and pushed the Peoria bulge to 13-0. With the inning still in full swing, Jones dug in looking for the record. With only Buchberger aboard at first, Jones doubled down the left field line. Beloit left fielder Osiris Johnson was able to cut the ball off before it reached the corner, stopping Buchberger at third and robbing Jones of his ninth RBI of the ballgame. A pair of strikeouts later ended the frame.

Starter Zane Mills hardly broke a sweat on Sunday. The Peoria right-hander scattered a run in the bottom of the fifth to finish his afternoon. He picked up his fourth win of the year in a Chiefs uniform.

Peoria created the final margin in the sixth when Buchberger racked up his second RBI of the day as his single plated Stauss to make it a 14-1 contest. With four hits Sunday, Buchberger is now hitting .333 since August 17.

Before the rains came, Nick Trogrlic-Iverson was able to extend his scoreless streak late Sunday afternoon. After twirling a pair of scoreless frames, Trogrlic-Iverson has now posted 20.0 consecutive scoreless innings, dating back to August 4.

The Chiefs return home Tuesday for the final home series of the year as they welcome in the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. All six games will start at 6:35 p.m., including the home finale on September 4.