Four Dayton home runs led the Dragons over the Chiefs in an 8-2 series-opening loss on Tuesday night at Dozer Park. Five of Dayton’s eight runs scored in the final three innings of the contest.
With the defeat, Peoria has dropped three in a row and falls back to .500 at 32-32.
In the second inning, Yerlin Confidan launched a rocket to dead center that grazed the top of the batter’s eye, giving Dayton a 1-0 lead on a solo home run.
Won-Bin Cho hit a one-out double in the bottom half, and José Suárez reached on a fielding error by first baseman Carter Graham to put runners on the corners.
Peoria threatened to tie the game, but Cho was caught stealing home after catcher Alfredo Duno’s throw to second was cut off by pitcher Kyle McCoy.
The game settled into a pitcher’s duel from there.
Chiefs starter Yhoiker Fajardo matched a season-high with his five innings, allowing one run on two hits while walking three and striking out six.
McCoy was even more impressive, working six scoreless frames while giving up three hits and one walk with four strikeouts to eventually earn the win.
Peoria’s best chance off McCoy came in the fifth when Cho and Suárez opened the inning with back-to-back singles, but McCoy escaped by striking out Cameron Nickens and inducing a double play ball off the bat of Cade McGee to strand both runners.
The next runs of the ballgame didn’t arrive until the seventh.
Confidan blasted his second homer, sending a leadoff solo blast to right field that cleared Adams Street to make it 2-0 Dayton.
In the last of the seventh, Jalin Flores put the Chiefs on the board with his second homer in as many games to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Dragons got that tally back and more in the eighth when Graham connected on a two-run home run to left center field, making it 4-1 Dayton.
Jack Gurevitch shortened Peoria’s deficit to 4-2 in the bottom half when he lined an RBI double into the right-field corner, scoring Encarnación. Flores left him stranded after he struck out following an 11-pitch at-bat.
In the ninth, a hit batsman, a double, and a walk off Dominic Freeberger loaded the bases with nobody out. Freeberger induced a pop out and a strikeout before Graham crushed a grand slam to left-center field, extending Dayton’s lead to 8-2.
Wednesday’s first pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Tickets are available at PeoriaChiefs.com or the Dozer Park box office.
Fans can watch the game on MiLB.TV or the Bally Sports Live app. The audio broadcast is also available on PeoriaChiefs.com.