Midland, MI - Three hit games from Rainiel Rodriguez and Jalen Flores highlighted an 11-1 Chiefs romp over Great Lakes on Sunday afternoon at Dow Diamond.
The Chiefs took the lead in the first and never looked back. After a leadoff double from Tai Peete, an RBI groundout from Flores opened the scoring.
Peoria took firm control with a two-out rally in the third inning. Cade McGee drove in two on an RBI double to the left field corner, and Jose Suarez followed by smoking an RBI single to make it 4-0 Chiefs.
Tanner Franklin navigated through trouble in a brief outing, working around four walks in 2.1 scoreless innings.
The lead grew to 6-0 in the fourth, as Flores picked up his second RBI on a single and Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch.
The Loons scratched across their only run in the fifth, as Logan Wagner poked an RBI single following a two-out triple from Nico Perez.
The rout was on starting in the sixth, as Rodriguez capped his three hit game with a two-run homer to left center field, pushing the advantage to 8-1.
Peoria played more longball in the eighth. After Flores reached on a dropped third strike with two outs, Jesús Báez pumped a 450-foot three-run homer to left field to get the Chiefs to double digits, 11-1.
The Chiefs bullpen worked out of trouble to finish off the one-run performance, stranding runners in scoring position in the seventh and ninth to close the game. Bobby Olsen earned the win with 2.2 innings of one run ball. DJ Carpenter (one inning), Zach Showalter (one inning) and Ruben Menes (two) all turned in scoreless efforts.
The Chiefs, now 12-14, head home to Dozer Park to begin a six-game homestand hosting Wisconsin. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 11:05 am. Tickets are available online at PeoriaChiefs.com.