PEORIA, IL – The West Michigan Whitecaps took a late lead but were unable to hold it as part of a 5-3 loss to the Peoria Chiefs on Friday night at Dozer Park.
The defeat becomes the fourth straight loss – all in this series – for the Whitecaps, who had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning before the Chiefs collected three home runs in a five-batter span, including the go-ahead two-run blast by Cameron Nickens as part of a four-run frame to take the lead and the fourth game of this six-game series.
For most of the contest, the ballgame looked similar to the one played on Thursday, when the Whitecaps lost by a final score of 1-0. After the ‘Caps and Chiefs traded first-inning tallies on a Luke Shliger run-scoring single and Tai Peete solo homer, the score remained the same until the seventh. That inning would watch a total of six runs cross the plate, beginning with a Cristian Santana solo homer to give West Michigan a 2-1 lead. After an RBI Single by Juan Hernandez, the Chiefs made their stunning comeback with three homers to take the lead. Catcher Sammy Hernandez, along with Nickens and Peete, all blasted homers to help the Chiefs retake the lead at 5-3, ending the scoring in the contest.
The Whitecaps drop to 14-14 in the second half and 38-54 on the season, while the Chiefs improve to 13-14 in the latter portion of ‘26 and 45-48 overall. Peoria reliever Jack Martinez (1-1) tossed the final four innings in relief to pick up his first win in the Midwest League, while the Whitecaps Preston Howey (1-2) allowed three of the four Chiefs homers in taking his second loss of the season. Outfielder Caleb Shpur led the Whitecaps offense by going 2-for-4 with a double in the defeat.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps play the penultimate game of this six-game series against the Peoria Chiefs on Saturday night, with first pitch scheduled for 8:05 pm. Lefty Joe Miller returns to West Michigan to make a Minor League Rehab Assignment and faces the Chiefs Tanner Franklin. Broadcast coverage with Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 7:50 pm on ‘The Ticket West Michigan’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.