PEORIA, ILL - Peoria erased an early 1-0 deficit with five runs in the third to take a lead it would not lose in its third straight win over Cedar Rapids Saturday night, 7-2.
For the fifth time in as many games in the series, the Kernels got on the board first. To lead off the top of the second, Khadim Diaw crushed a solo home run to left to put Cedar Rapids in front 1-0. Diaw added two more hits on the night to collect his third three-hit game of the series.
The Chiefs responded in the fifth. A hit-by-pitch and a walk to open the inning put two on for Jesús Baez, who doubled home a run to tie the game. The next batter, Jalin Flores, put Peoria on top with an RBI single, and on the play, a second run came in on an error to jump the Chiefs in front 3-1. Two batters later, Cade McGee capped off the inning with a two-run home run to make it 5-1.
That stayed the score until the seventh, thanks to the work of Christian Becerra, who was a bright spot out of the Cedar Rapids bullpen. Becerra did not allow a run in 2.2 innings of work with a pair of strikeouts.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Quinn McDaniel tripled, and a batter later came in to score on a Rayne Doncon RBI base hit to bring the Kernels within three at 5-2.
But that was the closest Cedar Rapids would get. The Chiefs got solo home runs from Cameron Nickens in the seventh and Luis Pino in the eighth to put Peoria up 7-2, the score that would be the final.
The Kernels third straight loss drops Cedar Rapids to 23-21 on the season and to 2-3 in the series with Peoria. The six-game set concludes Sunday at 6:35 with Riley Quick on the mound opposite Blake Aita.