Walk-Off Wild Pitch Drops Chiefs Wednesday

Beloit, WI - With the Chiefs a strike away from forcing extra innings, a wild pitch went streaking to the backstop and allowed the Beloit Sky Carp with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday from ABC Supply Stadium. The loss dropped Peoria to 49-67 on the year.

Both offenses were late to the party in game two of the series. Beloit starter Edgar Sanchez faced the minimum through two while Peoria hurler Austin Love worked around a pair of first inning baserunners to post two scoreless frames.

In the third, Peoria loaded the bases without a ball leaving the infield. After a Mack Chambers walk, Francisco Hernandez reached on an error. With runners at first and second, Tommy Jew legged out a bunt single to occupy the bases with no one out. After a strikeout, Osvaldo Tovalin lifted a sac fly to center to plate Chambers and give the Chiefs a 1-0 advantage. Sanchez then retired Jacob Buchberger to avoid the crooked number and hold the Chiefs to just the one run.

Beloit wasted no time with an answer. Back-to-back hits placed runners at second and third with no one out. An RBI groundout from Jose Salas knotted the game at 1-1. The next batter, Victor Mesa Jr., lined a screamer to right to give the Sky Carp their first lead, 2-1.

Each starter worked into the sixth and finished their outing strong on Wednesday. Sanchez, who was making just his fourth High-A start, scattered just one hit over six innings. Love was lifted with two outs in the sixth and exited with six strikeouts on the night.

Both bullpens spun zeroes into the ninth. Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, who was named the Midwest League’s Pitcher of the Week on Monday, logged 2.1 scoreless innings to extend his scoreless streak to 18.0 consecutive innings.

With Peoria still trailing by a run, Buchberger delivered in the clutch. The third baseman cranked a 1-2 pitch off the batter’s eye to tie the score, 2-2. For Buchberger, it was his ninth homer of the year and his fourth in his last six games.

The Chiefs were unable to get the game to extras, however. With a runner at first and two outs in the ninth, Nathanael Heredia surrendered consecutive walks to load the bases. Andre Granillo was brought in to get the last out of the inning but a wild pitch ended the game and allowed Jose Salas to score the winning tally.

Game three of the series is set for Thursday. Dionys Rodriguez is the scheduled starter for Peoria. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.