Quad Cities overcomes 3-0 deficit to achieve its best 15-game start since 2001
PEORIA, Ill. (April 23, 2015) - The Peoria Chiefs took a 3-0 lead through the first four innings Thursday night, but the Quad Cities River Bandits scored once in the fifth and sixth innings, and twice in the eighth inning, and right-hander Daniel Mengden pitched four scoreless relief innings for his first professional win in a 4-3 victory and the club's first series sweep at Dozer Park since Aug. 24-26, 2011.
The three-run deficit was the largest erased by Quad Cities (12-3) this season. The club has eight comeback wins and sole possession of the Midwest League Western Division lead for a sixth straight day. The team has won 12 of its first 15 games for the first time since 2001.
Chiefs right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon, who beat Quad Cities April 11, pitched a perfect first inning. In the bottom of the first inning against Quad Cities right-hander Austin Chrismon, Chiefs shortstop Oscar Mercado chopped an infield single to third baseman Kristian Trompiz, who threw past first base to allow Mercado to reach second base. Mercado then stole third base and scored an unearned run on a groundout by third baseman Andrew Sohn for a 1-0 Peoria lead.
In the second inning, Poncedeleon began by allowing back-to-back singles by designated hitter Mott Hyde and first baseman Jacob Nottingham before retiring the next three batters. In the third inning with two outs, Poncedeleon allowed a single by catcher Alfredo Gonzalez and double by right fielder Sean McMullen but escaped the jam when Hyde flied out to left field.
The Chiefs (8-7) added to their lead in the fourth inning, when Sohn and first baseman Justin Ringo started with back-to-back singles. Chrismon got a flyout and struck out designated hitter Alex DeLeon on a wild pitch that moved Sohn and Ringo into scoring position. With the infield shifted against catcher Steve Bean, a ground ball to the right side brought second baseman Alex Hernandez charging in from shallow right field, but he threw past first base, bringing in both Sohn and Ringo to make it 3-0. Chrismon retired the next four batters to finish five innings, allowing three unearned runs on five hits and no walks with six strikeouts.
Quad Cities' comeback began against Poncedeleon in the fifth inning, when shortstop Thomas Lindauer drew a one-out walk. With two outs, Lindauer stole his first base of the season on a 0-2 pitch to catcher Alfredo Gonzalez, who worked a 3-2 count and hit the ninth pitch of the at-bat to right field for an RBI single. In the sixth inning, Hyde hit a leadoff double and went to third base on Poncedeleon's wild pitch before scoring on Nottingham's groundout to cut the deficit to 3-2. Hernandez then singled to end Poncedeleon's start after he had allowed two earned runs on seven hits and one walk with seventh strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Right-hander Tyler Bray (1-1) retired the next two batters to end the inning.
With the visitors trailing, 3-2, Lindauer began the go-ahead rally in the seventh inning with a leadoff single to left field against Bray. Center fielder Bobby Boyd sacrificed Lindauer to second base, and Gonzalez drew a four-pitch walk. Bray was removed for left-hander Nick Lomascolo, whose first pitch got past Bean for a passed ball that allowed both runners to advance. McMullen popped up for the second out, but Hyde worked a walk, with the last pitch being wild through the legs of Bean to allow Lindauer to score the tying run and Gonzalez to reach third base. With Nottingham at bat, Lomascolo threw another wild pitch that scored Gonzalez for the go-ahead run. Both runs were charged to Bray, while Lomascolo had a blown save for his outing of 1 2/3 hitless innings with three walks and two wild pitches.
After losing a start April 11 at Dozer Park, Mengden (1-1) began the sixth inning with a deficit but had a lead in the seventh. In the eighth and ninth innings, Peoria put the leadoff batter on base and advanced him with a sacrifice and groundout to third base with two outs, but Mengden struck out Ringo to end the eighth inning and got pinch hitter Danny Diekroeger to ground out to Hernandez to end the game.
The River Bandits open a six-game, seven-day homestand at 7 p.m. Friday at Modern Woodmen Park. In the opener of a three-game series with Burlington, River Bandits right-hander Joshua James (0-0) is scheduled to face Bees left-hander Sean Newcomb (1-0).
UP NEXT: Smart Toyota of the Quad Cities and WLLR present the first Friday Fireworks of the season following the 7 p.m. game Friday at Modern Woodmen Park. It is also Legends of Rock Night for the opener of the six-game, seven-day homestand. Individual tickets are on sale at the River Bandits box office and online at riverbandits.com. Ticket plans of 12 to 70 games - which include free parking, reserved seats, merchandise discounts, and guaranteed giveaways - are available by calling 563-324-3000.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: The River Bandits ownership in 2014 made one of the biggest improvements to Modern Woodmen Park since the ballpark was first built back in 1931! A new Ferris wheel, standing 105 feet over the playing field, opened May 24, Space Camp opened June 20; the new Drop'N Twist debuted in July; and the newly expanded 300-foot long zip line also reopened.
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