PEORIA, IL – Solid starting pitching and a pair of critical home runs helped power the West Michigan Whitecaps past the Peoria Chiefs 7-5, securing the series victory Sunday afternoon at Dozer Park.
Eliezer Alfonzo and Ulrich Bojarski blasted two-run homers, accounting for four of the ‘Caps five RBIs in
PEORIA, IL – Solid starting pitching and a pair of critical home runs helped power the West Michigan Whitecaps past the Peoria Chiefs 7-5, securing the series victory Sunday afternoon at Dozer Park.
Eliezer Alfonzo and Ulrich Bojarski blasted two-run homers, accounting for four of the ‘Caps five RBIs in the slim victory. Meanwhile, Dylan Smith allowed two runs through five innings with four strikeouts to collect his team-leading sixth victory of 2022.
West Michigan struck first as Alfonzo cracked a two-run home run in the third inning before Tyler Reichenberg blasted a solo homer in the bottom half, slimming the lead to 2-1. Corey Joyce lifted a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning before a fielding error allowed Austin Murr to cross the plate, expanding West Michigan’s edge to 4-1. In the fifth, Chiefs infielder Mike Antico singled before stealing two bases and scoring on an Osvaldo Tovalin groundout, trimming the advantage to 4-2. Whitecaps relievers Gio Arriera, Jared Tobey, and Hendry Nunez combined for three scoreless frames on three strikeouts as Ben Malgeri added an RBI single in the seventh before Bojarski slammed a two-run homer, increasing the lead to 7-2. Peoria made a push in the ninth inning as Tovalin roped a two-run double before scoring on an RBI-Double from Todd Lott. Still, it was too late as ‘Caps closer Elvis Alvarado recorded the final two outs to secure the series victory.
Smith (6-4) records his sixth win as Chiefs starter Dionys Rodriguez (1-7) suffers his seventh loss, allowing four runs through 4.2 innings with four walks in the defeat. Meanwhile, Hendry Nunez records his fifth save of 2022. The Chiefs and ‘Caps combined for 92 runs on 128 hits and 14 home runs while walking 61 times in this six-game series. The Whitecaps improve to 30-33 as the Chiefs fall to 27-36. Alfonzo led the Whitecaps with a 3-for-5 performance, including his third-inning home run in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue their season-long 12-game road trip with a six-game series against the first-place Cedar Rapids Kernels beginning Tuesday at 7:35 pm. Detroit Tigers Top-5 prospect Ty Madden takes the mound for the ‘Caps against the Kernels David Festa. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 7:20 pm. Get your tickets for all 2022 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.