Rodriguez Drives in Four in High-A Debut, Chiefs Fall 8-7
BELOIT, WI – In what was his High-A debut Thursday, 18-year-old Rainiel Rodriguez collected three hits and drove in four Peoria runs in an 8-7 defeat at Beloit. The Chiefs fell into a big hole on Thursday. With a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the fifth, Beloit sent nine
BELOIT, WI – In what was his High-A debut Thursday, 18-year-old Rainiel Rodriguez collected three hits and drove in four Peoria runs in an 8-7 defeat at Beloit.
The Chiefs fell into a big hole on Thursday. With a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the fifth, Beloit sent nine men to the plate and scored five times. An Ian Lewis single doubled the lead to 2-0. Then, after a bases loaded walk made it 3-0, a two-run single from Brandon Compton extended the lead to 5-0. A throwing error by catcher Ryan Campos scored another tally to cap off the lead at 6-0.
From there, Peoria was on the comeback trail. With two men in scoring position, Rodriguez lined a single into center to make it a 6-2 game. In the top of the seventh, a bases-loaded walk from Campos brought the Chiefs to within 6-3.
Chiefs reliever and Peoria native Mason Burns cruised through a pair of scoreless innings. With a career-high six strikeouts under his belt, Burns surrendered a two-out double from Wilson Weber to grow the Beloit lead to 7-3. Then, Wilfredo Lara singled in a run off of D.J. Carpenter to push the Beloit advantage to 8-3.
The two add-on runs turned out to be significant for the Sky Carp. Trailing 8-3 entering the ninth, the Chiefs pieced together a serious rally against Carson Laws. A two-out walk to Jesus Baez loaded the bases with two outs. Rodriguez followed with a two-run single into left field, driving in Andrew Sojka and Won-Bin Cho. The next batter, Deniel Ortiz, kept the line moving with a two-run double into the right field corner, bringing the Chiefs within a run at 8-7.
Needing to get the game’s final out, Beloit turned to left-hander Justin Storm to face left-handed hitting Christian Martin. With the tying run at second base, Storm induced a popout to end the ballgame.
Peoria pounded nine hits over the game’s final four innings before coming up a run short of the largest comeback win this season. Sky Carp starter Luke Lashutka allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings to earn the win.
With their victory and a loss from Quad Cities, Beloit’s magic number dipped to one. They can clinch the second-half crown with a win Friday or a loss by the River Bandits.
Game four of the series is set for Friday at 6:05 p.m from ABC Supply Stadium.