Riley Drives in Four, Ynfante Homers in Chiefs Loss to Clinton

Peoria, IL - The Peoria Chiefs pitching staff notched a season-high 15 strikeouts, but fell to the Clinton LumberKings 8-7 in game one of the three-game set.

  The Chiefs are now 4-7 on the season with two games left in this homestand.
     The LumberKings jumped on the Chiefs early in the top of the first against Peoria starter Dionis Zamora. Jerar Encarnacion launched a two-run homerun to put Clinton ahead 2-0, but Zamora bounced back with two strikeouts to end the first.
     The LumberKings kept their momentum going, scoring one in the top of the second. Bubba Hollins led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs Thomas Jones singled to left field, scoring Hollins from second to push the Clinton lead to 3-0.
     Peoria wasn't down for long, as they put a four-spot on the board to take the lead for the first time in bottom of the second. Leandro Cedeno and Lars Nootbaar started the inning with back-to-back singles, then Ivan Herrera reached first on a fielding error by Clinton shortstop Christopher Torres. Delvin Perez singled with the bases loaded to score Cedeno from third to make the score 3-1. After a strikeout of Wadye Ynfante, Brandon Riley cleared the bases with a double to centerfield to give Peoria a 4-3 lead.
     Clinton responded with five runs to regain the lead in the top of the third and knocked Zamora out of the game. Torres drew a leadoff walk and Encarnacion drove him in with a double down the left field line to tie the game at four. Zamora notched his sixth strikeout but then surrendered four straight hits to push Clinton's lead to 7-4. With two outs, Thomas Jones singled to score Demetrius Sims to make the score 8-4 and Zamora's day ended there. Edgar Escobar entered the game for Zamora, after allowing a single to the first hitter he saw, he got out of the inning with a line drive to Perez.
      Peoria did not go away, as they scored one run in the bottom of the fourth. Ivan Herrera hit his second double of the season with one out. Two batters later, Ynfante singled to put runners on the corners with two outs and Riley singled to score Herrera to make the score 8-5.
      The Chiefs kept the momentum going, scoring two more in the bottom of the sixth to pull to within one, 8-7. Herrera drew a leadoff walk and with one out, Ynfante launched his first homerun of the season, a two-run homerun to left field to make the score 8-7.
      Zamora (0-2) took his second loss of the season, throwing 2 2/3, notching six strikeouts, but he allowed eight hits, and a career high eight runs. Edgar Escobar threw 2 1/3 innings, allowing only three hits, and tallied four strikeouts. Freddy Pacheco also threw 2 1/3 innings, surrendering only one hit, while striking out four. Fabian Blanco, the final pitcher for Peoria, threw 1 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and notching one strikeout.
     The Chiefs continue their three-game series against Clinton, Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. Promotions can be found on the team website or social media accounts. The Chiefs will start RH Tommy Parsons (2-0, 0.00) against Clinton RH Chris Vallimont (0-1, 1.80). The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:20 p.m. on the Peoria Chiefs Tune-In Page, which is free and also has a free app for smartphones and tablets. The game will also be available to watch on MiLB.TV for subscribers.