The Peoria Chiefs scored four runs in the top of the second inning on Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the second but could only score one run and the offense never got on track after that while Peoria kept added to their lead on the way to an 11-1 victory on another cool Sunday afternoon in Northeast Wisconsin.
The Chiefs (5-9) needed one hit to score their four runs in the top of the second inning. Wisconsin starting pitcher Yorman Galindez put two runners on base to start the inning on a walk and a hit batsman. Won-Bin Cho followed with a three-run home run.
Miguel Villarroel drew a one-out walk and moved from first to third on a wild pitch. He would just beat a throw home after a grounder to second off the bat of Tai Peete against Wisconsin’s drawn-in infield to score the fourth run of the frame.
The Timber Rattlers (8-5) had the bases loaded with one out after Peoria starter Nate Dohm walked three of the first four batters he faced in the bottom of the second. A wild pitch let a run score, and another walk reloaded the bases. Dohm escape the jam with a strikeout and a flyout to right.
Peoria tacked on single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to push their lead to 7-1. Villarroel drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the third, Cade McGee knocked in a run with a two-out single in the fourth, and Rainiel Rodriguez delivered a two-out, RBI single in the fifth.
Rodriguez padded Peoria’s lead in the top of the seventh with a two-run double.
The Chiefs scored two more runs in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly by José Suárez and an RBI double by Tai Peete.
Wisconsin only had two decent chances to score after the second inning. In the third, Daniel Dickinson single to left with two on and two out, but Josh Adamczewski was thrown out at the plate on a strong throw from José Suárez. In the eighth, Andrew Fischer hit a lead-off double, but he would be stranded at third when the inning ended.
Yhoiker Fajardo earned the win with five scoreless innings out of the Peoria bullpen. He retired ten Rattlers in a row at one point in the game.
Luis Peña moved his hitting streak to nine games for the Timber Rattlers with a first inning single. Eric Bitonti extended his on-base streak to twelve games with a single in the third.
Five Timber Rattlers pitchers combined to allow twelve hits and eleven walks in the game.
The Rattlers won the series with three wins out of the five games.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday with the first game of a six-game series against the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Parkview Field in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Game time is 5:35pm CDT.
