Early Deficit Too Much for Wisconsin
PEORIA, IL – The Peoria Chiefs built an early 6-0 led over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wednesday afternoon at Dozer Park and that was more than enough for Chiefs starting pitcher Cooper Hjerpe. The Chiefs beat Wisconsin 6-2 to win the second straight game in the series.
PEORIA, IL – The Peoria Chiefs built an early 6-0 led over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wednesday afternoon at Dozer Park and that was more than enough for Chiefs starting pitcher Cooper Hjerpe. The Chiefs beat Wisconsin 6-2 to win the second straight game in the series.
Peoria (11-12) scored twice in the bottom of the second inning. The opponents have scored first in each of the last eight Timber Rattlers games.
On Wednesday, Rattlers starting pitcher Cameron Wagoner hit Elijah Cabell on a 1-2 pitch with one out. A single by Thomas Francisco moved Cabell to third. Then, an error on a grounder to first let Cabell score the go-ahead run. Luis Rodriguez followed with a single to right, but Micah Bello came up firing after fielding the ball and threw out Francisco at the plate for the second out.
The Chiefs still managed to get a second run in the second inning on a two-out, RBI single by Francisco Hernandez.
A lead-off walk to Nathan Church in the third was followed by back-to-back RBI doubles from Jeremy Rivas and Jimmy Crooks for a 4-0 lead. Francisco singled again later in the inning and this time the run scored to give the Chiefs a 5-0 advantage.
Cabell drove in a run with a grounder in the bottom of the fifth against reliever Michele Vassalotti.
Wisconsin (8-14) struggled to get anything going offensively against Hjerpe, the first-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2022 draft. Robert Moore reached on an error with one out in the first inning. Then, Hjerpe retired the next thirteen batters he faced. Jesús Chirinos gave the Rattlers their first hit of the game with a two-out double in the fifth inning.
Hjerpe worked 5-2/3 innings, allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out seven. He set a new single-game high for innings pitched and matched his single-game high for strikeouts as a pro with his performance on Wednesday.
Terence Doston cracked a two-run home run to right in the top of the eighth inning against Peoria reliever Bryan Pope to get the Rattlers on the scoreboard. The homer was the first of the season for Doston.
Max Lazar pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and Justin King tossed a scoreless inning with a strikeout out of the Wisconsin bullpen.
The Timber Rattlers have dropped seven of their last eight games.
Game three of the series is Thursday night at Dozer Park. Stiven Cruz (1-0, 3.50) is set to start for the Timber Rattlers. Trent Baker (1-1, 4.58) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Chiefs. Game time is 6:35pm. The broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starts with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show at 6:15pm. Fans can listen on the radio, on the First Pitch app, or at this link. The internet video feed is available to subscribers of Bally Live, too.