Early Outburst Leads Wisconsin Past Chiefs
Peoria, IL – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers did all of their damage in the first three innings as they beat the Chiefs 7-4 on Friday. The Chiefs, who had not allowed a run since Tuesday, jumped out to an early lead again on Friday. Mike Antico walked to begin the
Peoria, IL – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers did all of their damage in the first three innings as they beat the Chiefs 7-4 on Friday.
The Chiefs, who had not allowed a run since Tuesday, jumped out to an early lead again on Friday. Mike Antico walked to begin the game and to extend his on-base streak to 18 games. With the two-hole hitter Tyler Reichenborn at the plate, a wild pitch moved Antico to second and he then swiped third for his 24th stolen base of the season. Reichenborn later lifted a sac fly to right to push Peoria ahead 1-0, two batters in.
From there, Wisconsin ended their scoring drought with the long ball. With one out in the bottom of the first, Joe Gray Jr. homered over the high wall in center, a two-run shot, to make it 2-1 Wisconsin. In the second, Jose Acosta added a two-run blast in his Brewers organizational debut and Wisconsin owned a 4-1 lead.
In the third, Wisconsin created some additional separation with three more runs in the inning. After a wild pitch made it 5-1, Darrien Miller singled in a run to make it 6-1. Then, Ashton McGee doubled home another Wisconsin tally to make it 7-1.
Trailing six, the Peoria bullpen kept the Chiefs in the game. Enmanuel Solano and Colin Schmid combined for 5.1 scoreless innings in relief. The Peoria bullpen has not allowed a run since Sunday.
The offense chipped away in the middle innings and made things interesting late. With the score 7-2 entering the sixth, the Chiefs broke through for a pair of runs. Francisco Hernandez led off the inning with his second homer of the year to cut the deficit to 7-3. Then, Antico doubled home Mack Chambers to make it 7-4.
In the eighth, Peoria had their best opportunity as they sent the tying-run to the plate against Wisconsin closer Cam Robinson. Robinson retired Reichenborn and Todd Lott, however, to keep the deficit at three. Robinson worked a quick ninth to secure the save.
Game five of the series will take place tomorrow at 6:40 p.m. Logan Gragg is the probable starter for Peoria.