Chiefs ride strong arms past River Bandits

The Chiefs continued a recent string of strong pitching performances to defeat Quad Cities 5-3 on Saturday night at Dozer Park.

With the win, Peoria improved to 31-33 in the second half.

The Chiefs built a third-inning lead behind Andrew Williamson’s RBI single and Caden Ferraro’s RBI triple to make it 2-0.

After Quad Cities erased three separate one-run deficits Friday, Tyriq Kemp hit a two-run homer to right in the fourth inning to tie the game at two.

Peoria quickly escaped with its second lead of the night in the fourth inning. Anyelo Encarnación lined an RBI double to right-center and José Suárez sent an RBI double into the left field corner, putting the Chiefs back in front 4-2.

In the fifth, the Chiefs added a run when Williamson walked, stole second and later scored on Tristan Bissetta’s sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 5-2.

Chiefs starter Jack Martinez went five innings where he struck out eight, walked one and allowed two runs on four hits. Since the start of last week’s series at West Michigan, Peoria’s starting pitchers have recorded 82 strikeouts, the most in MiLB and MLB. Their 2.79 ERA ranks fourth in High-A during that span.

River Bandits starter Tanner Jones also went five innings, where he allowed five runs on six hits while he walked three and struck out six.

Nolan Sailors grounded a hustle RBI double to right field in the seventh inning, trimming the deficit to 5-3.

In the bottom half, Brayden Smith tripled to begin the inning and sprinted home on an Encarnación grounder to short where he was thrown out at the plate on the fielder’s choice, keeping it a two-run game.

In the ninth, Patrick Galle delivered a 1-2-3 ninth inning to collect his fifth save. Andrew Williamson kept the inning clean with a diving catch to take a hit away from Erick Torres.

The Chiefs play their final game of the season on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. against the River Bandits.

Celebrate the final 2026 game at Dozer Park by honoring longtime Chiefs owner Pete Vonachen and his lasting impact on baseball in Peoria. In the spirit of Vonachen, the first 1,000 fans will receive a Chiefs-themed baseball.

Additionally, the first 1,000 fans will receive a ‘Marty Pass’ Cardinals ticket voucher for the 2027 season, redeemable for a ticket to a Monday-Thursday home game at Busch Stadium.

Bring the youngsters out for one final afternoon at Dozer Park where they can get in for just $5 and enjoy postgame activities including running the bases, playing catch on the field and getting autographs from their favorite Chiefs players.

Fans can watch the game on MiLB.TV and the Bally Sports Live app or listen on PeoriaChiefs.com.