The Lugnuts carried the momentum from a four-run first inning into an 8-2 victory over the Chiefs on Thursday night at Jackson Field, handing Peoria its sixth consecutive loss.
With the loss, the Chiefs matched their season-long six-game skid from June 13-20.
Lansing got to Peoria starter Ty Van Dyke in the first inning, scoring four runs on four hits and an error. Breyson Guedez, Daniel Bucciero and Jake Reinisch loaded the bases on two infield singles and a fielding error by third baseman Ryan Weingartner.
Dylan Fien followed with the inning’s third infield single, bringing home the game’s first run. Jared Davis then ripped a ground ball down the first-base line and into the right-field corner, clearing the bases to make it 4-0 Lugnuts. Three of the first inning runs were unearned.
More than half of Van Dyke’s runs allowed this season have come in the opening frame.
In the third, Davis’ two-run single extended Lansing's lead to 6-0.
The Chiefs got on the board in the top of the fourth on Jalin Flores’ solo homer that just cleared the left-field wall, cutting the deficit to 6-1.
After a leadoff walk in the bottom half, Pedro Pineda sent a two-run shot to left to make it 8-1 Lugnuts.
Van Dyke tossed 3.2 innings, allowing eight runs, five earned, on nine hits. He walked two and struck out four.
In the top of the sixth, Brayden Smith singled and Sammy Hernandez doubled to put runners in scoring position before Caden Ferraro hit an RBI groundout, trimming the deficit to 8-2.
That was the final damage against Lansing starter Samuel Dutton who gave up two runs on four hits, walked one and struck out four over six frames.
Nine of the final 11 Chiefs batters were retired.
The Chiefs and the Lugnuts match up for game four of the six-game series on Friday at 6:05 p.m. CT. Fans can listen to the hometown call on PeoriaChiefs.com.