Behind Andrew Williamson’s 3-for-4, three-RBI effort, including his first professional home run, and Anyelo Encarnación’s four-hit, three-run night, the Chiefs snapped a six-game skid with a 7-4 victory over the Lugnuts Friday night at Jackson Field.
With the win, Peoria improved to 24-27 in the second half of the season.
Williamson led off the game with his first professional home run, taking Lansing starter Jose Dicochea deep to left-center to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Dicochea eventually suffered the loss. Williamson was selected by the Cardinals in the Competitive Balance Round B of this year’s MLB Draft.
Brayden Smith walked and later scored on Tristan Bissetta’s RBI single to extend Peoria’s lead to 2-0.
Lansing responded with a run in the bottom of the first when Pedro Pineda scored on a Brandon Clarke wild pitch. Clarke walked three batters in the inning as the Lugnuts cut the deficit to 2-1.
Clarke battled command issues early in his third Chiefs start but limited the damage. He walked a season-high five batters but struck out six and allowed just one run without surrendering a hit in 2.1 innings.
Nelfy Ynfante replaced Clarke and tossed 2.2 scoreless innings to earn his first High-A win.
In the fourth, Encarnación doubled and later scored on Williamson’s sacrifice fly to extend the Chiefs’ lead to 3-1.
Peoria added another run in the fifth when Sammy Hernandez led off with a double and scored on Jalin Flores’ RBI single to make it 4-1.
Encarnación led off the sixth with a triple before Ryan Weingartner doubled him home, giving the Chiefs a run in their third consecutive inning and extending the lead to 5-1.
Lansing answered with three runs in the bottom half. After a pair of walks, Bryan Arendt launched a three-run homer over the left-field scoreboard off Rubén Menes to cut Peoria's lead to 5-4.
The Chiefs added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning. Michael Dattalo doubled to begin the frame before Encarnación’s second triple and third extra-base hit of the game brought him in. Williamson followed later in the inning with an RBI double, his third hit of the night, to extend the lead to 7-4.
Encarnación finished 4-for-4 with two triples, a double and three runs scored, finishing a home run shy of what would have been the Chiefs’ third cycle of the season.
Christian Worley pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings for his third save of the season.
The Chiefs aim to win back-to-back games against the Lugnuts Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT. Fans can listen to the hometown call on PeoriaChiefs.com.