COMSTOCK PARK, MI – Whitecaps designated hitter Rey Rivera delivered another huge swing with a walk-off single in the tenth inning as the West Michigan Whitecaps beat the Peoria Chiefs in front of 5,270 fans Thursday night by a score of 6-5 at LMCU Ballpark.
Rivera finished the game 2-for-5 with the game-winning base hit. Over his last four games, Riveras is 6-for-16 with four home runs and eight RBIs. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Jack O’Loughlin wielded five innings while allowing two runs on four strikeouts in the Whitecaps victory.
Peoria scored first as Francisco Hernandez scored Tyler Reichenborn on an RBI-single to put the Chiefs in front 1-0. Austin Murr opened the third inning with a single before Jake Holton laced a two-run inside-the-park home run to forge West Michigan in front 2-1. Holton became the first Whitecap with an inside-the-park home run since Riley Greene on August 8th, 2019. A wild pitch tied the game for the Chiefs in the sixth inning before an RBI-single by Murr put the ‘Caps on top 3-2. Whitecaps reliever Zack Hess walked home the tying run in the ninth inning before a fielding error by the third baseman Colt Keith allowed the go-ahead run to cross, putting Peoria in front 4-3. A balk in the bottom of the ninth allowed Jimmy Kerr to score from third base to even the game at 4-4 and send us to extra innings.
Davenport University product Jacob Buchberger put the Chiefs in front with an RBI-single in the top of the tenth. Colt Keith re-tied the game on a bloop single in the bottom-half before Rivera delivered the final blow, lacing a walk-off line drive to plate Keith and secure the 6-5 Whitecap victory.
Bryce Tassin (4-5) allowed one run through 1.1 innings pitched with a strikeout in his fourth victory of 2021. Peoria Chiefs reliever Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (5-5) suffered his fifth loss, allowing the game-winning run in the 10th. The Whitecaps improve to 51-54 as the Chiefs fall to 39-66. The Whitecaps have won four-straight games for the first time since beating the Lake County Captains in four-straight from May 27th through the 30th. The Whitecaps sit just eight wins away from 2,000 franchise victories with 15 games to go.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps and Peoria Chiefs play the fourth game of this six-game series from LMCU Ballpark on Friday at 7:05 pm. West Michigan sends Brendan White to the mound against Wilfredo Pereira. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50 pm. Get your tickets for all 2021 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.
