Long Ball Downs Chiefs Wednesday

DAYTON, OH - The Dayton Dragons cranked four homers Wednesday in a 13-5 win over the Peoria Chiefs. With the victory, the Dragons evened the series at one win a piece and dropped the Chiefs to 42-56 on the year.

For the second night in a row, Peoria jumped out to a quick start. Todd Lott, who racked up three hits for the third straight game, got things started with a single to right. After Osvaldo Tovalin followed with a single, LJ Jones plated both on a double into the left field corner. With a 2-0 lead in hand, three straight walks brought Jones in to boost the lead to 3-0. Through two games in the series, the Chiefs have put up six runs in the first inning.

After a rough first inning, Dayton starter Christian Roa settled in and kept Peoria at bay. In the process, the Dragons offense gave him plenty of run support. With a 3-1 Chiefs lead in the third, Austin Hendrick trampolined Dayton in front with a three-run homer to make it a 4-3 game.

In the fifth, Dayton broke the game open against Chiefs starter Inohan Paniagua, who was making his second High-A start. On a sac bat from Tyler Callihan, Peoria third baseman Noah Mendlinger threw wide of first allowing a pair of runs to score. With the Chiefs deficit at 6-3, Noelvi Marte connected on a two-run blast, his first hit as a member of the Reds, to make it an 8-3. A later sac fly put a bow on a five-run fifth inning.

Dayton tacked on a run in the sixth to extend the lead to 10-3. The power surge then continued in the later innings against Peoria hurler Edgar Manzo. In the seventh, Garrett Wolforth launched his eighth blast of the year, a solo shot, to bolster the Dayton lead. In the eighth, Calihan reached base for the fourth time with an RBI single to make it 12-3. Marte then mashed his second homer of the night, a long, two-run home run to put up two more for the home team.

The Chiefs ended a stretch of 14 unanswered Dayton runs by plating two in the ninth. A bases loaded walk and an RBI groundout from Tovalin pushed a pair across.

The 14-5 loss snaps a streak of eight straight wins against the Dragons. Additionally, Peoria’s seven-game road winning streak, tied for their longest since 2015, came to end in Dayton.

Game three of the series is set for Thursday at 7:05 EST/6:05 CST. Wilfredo Pereira is the scheduled starter for the Chiefs.