Behind four solo home runs, the Chiefs beat the Beloit Sky Carp 5-2 on Friday night at ABC Supply Stadium to even the series at two games apiece.
On the first pitch of the game, Won-Bin Cho homered to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Cho has now gone deep in four of his last six games.
Two batters later, Jalin Flores crushed a home run to center field for Peoria’s second solo shot of the opening inning to make it 2-0.
In the third, the Chiefs’ home run barrage continued when Tre Richardson III belted his second long ball in as many games to extend Peoria’s lead to 3-0.
Beloit starter Nate Payne suffered the loss, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings, with three of those hits leaving the yard. Payne struck out seven and walked one.
Peoria starter Tanner Franklin recorded his second scoreless start in his last three outings. The right-hander worked a season-high 4.1 innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out five.
D.J. Carpenter earned his first win after finishing the fifth inning with a runner stranded.
In the sixth, Jawilme Ramirez relieved Carpenter and escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam to preserve the shutout.
The game remained 3-0 Chiefs until the top of the eighth inning, when Peoria added an insurance run on a Flores RBI single to make it 4-0.
Beloit finally cashed in on a Juan Matheus RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Sky Carps’ deficit to 4-1.
The Chiefs answered immediately in the ninth when Jack Gurevitch blasted Peoria’s fourth solo homer of the night and his first at the High-A level, extending the lead to 5-1.
Bobby Olsen picked up his second save with a perfect ninth inning.
The Chiefs even the series at 2-2 and improve to 16-20 on the season.
Peoria wraps up the series with a pair of day games this weekend, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
Join Nico Horning for the hometown call on PeoriaChiefs.com beginning with the pregame show at 12:50 p.m. each day.
The Chiefs return to Dozer Park next week for a six-game series against Cedar Rapids. Tickets are available at PeoriaChiefs.com.