Davenport, IA – The Chiefs grabbed the first lead of the game but Quad Cities got the last laughs, scoring 14 runs to down Peoria 14-4 in the series opener on Tuesday at Modern Woodman Park.
With the defeat, the Chiefs fall to 6-9 in the second half and have lost six of their last eight games.
Peoria jumped on Quad Cities starter David Shields, the Royals No. 4 prospect, for two first inning runs. Tai Peete signaled his return to the lineup in his first game since May 20 with a leadoff single. With Peete on second, Jalin Flores drove him home with an RBI single. Michael Dattalo made it 2-0 with a sac fly.
The River Bandits had a response in the first, as Ramon Ramirez laced an RBI double to score Asbel Gonzalez to make it 2-1.
Yhoiker Fajardo faced more trouble for the Chiefs in the third, loading the bases with a walk, double and hit by pitch. He issued a bases loaded walk to Luke Pelzer that tied the game at two.
Fajardo lasted just 3.1 innings but struck out five in the abbreviated start.
Quad Cities took the lead in the sixth as Peltzer came to the plate with the bases loaded and rolled into a run-scoring fielders choice.
The Bandits ran away with the ballgame in the sixth, rallying for seven runs on six hits, capped off by a Peltzer grand slam in his third consecutive plate appearance with the bases loaded.
Quad Cities got more in the seventh as Blake Mitchell socked a three-run home run in a four-run inning, extending the lead to 14-2.
Peoria got runs on RBI singles by Jack Gurevitch and José Suárez in the eighth inning, but fell short of an extreme comeback.
The series continues Wednesday night at 6:30 in Davenport. Chiefs fans can tune into the hometown audio broadcast online at PeoriaChiefs.com.