Lott Stays Hot in Series-Opening Win Over Dayton

DAYTON, OH - Todd Lott racked up three more hits, including a lead-off homer, to propel the Chiefs to an 8-3 win over the Dayton Dragons Tuesday.

For the second straight game, Lott homered in his first at-bat. With the count at 1-2, Lott lifted a mistake breaking ball over the wall in left center to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead four pitches into the game. The 24-year-old has now homered in three consecutive contests dating back to Saturday. Peoria wasn’t done in the opening inning, either. Tyler Reichenborn brought in a run with an RBI fielder’s choice. Later in the frame, Reichenborn swiped third and scored on an errant throw from Dayton’s catcher Mat Nelson.

With a 3-0 cushion, Dionys Rodriguez needed just five pitches to roll a 1-2-3 first inning and get the Chiefs right back into the dugout. In the second, Patrick Romeri scored his first High-A run on a single from Ramon Mendoza to make it a 4-0 Peoria lead.

In the third, Jacob Buchberger broke the game wide open. With Osvaldo Tovalin standing at first, Buchberger launched a two-run homer to put Peoria on top, 6-0. For Buchberger, it was his fifth homer of the year, his fourth with the Chiefs.

After Dayton scratched a run in the bottom of the third, Peoria pushed across two more runs in the fourth. Lott second’s hit of the game scored Wade Stauss to boost the lead back to six runs at 7-1. The next batter, Tovalin, singled sharply into right to score Mendoza, who reached base four times in the win.

Rodriguez worked a clean fourth inning before running into some trouble late in his outing. Dayton plated two in the home half of the fifth to make it an 8-3 game. Then, in the sixth, a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases. Rodriguez fell just shy of a quality start and was lifted after 5.1 innings of work.

The Chiefs turned to reliever Gianluca Dalatri to get out of the jam and he did so with ease. The right-hander got a pop out to second on his first pitch of the night. Then, Justice Thompson grounded out to end the frame.

From there, both bullpens logged zeroes. Dragons hurlers Myles Gayman and Braxton Roxby punched out seven Peoria batters over five innings. Dalatri recorded eight outs in relief before turning to Andre Granillo, who retired all three men that he faced to end the game.

The series continues from Dayton on Wednesday. Inohan Paniagua will make his second High-A start for the Chiefs. First pitch is set for 7:05 EST/6:05 CST.