Lansing - In a game that closely resembled the final game of the 2002 Midwest League Championship Series, Lansing downed the Peoria Chiefs 7-6 on Monday.
Last year's matchup saw the Chiefs (26-23) surprise the Lugnuts (28-18) with an eight-run ninth inning to steal the championship, 11-10. But this year, fate was on Lansing's side.
Peoria jumped out to a four-run lead in the first inning after Lugnut hurler Yorkin Ferreras (2-1) surrendered a one-out grand slam to Peoria first baseman John Santor.
"His fast ball was a little bit up and his breaking pitches weren't breaking," Lansing manager Julio Garcia said of Ferreras' start. "But once he settled down, his slider was sharper and he had better location."
The Chiefs added two more runs in the fifth and seventh innings while Lansing suffered some bad luck. A quirky ball hit by Lugnut second baseman Robinson Chirinos turned into a triple play.
Chirinos drove a Miguel Martinez pitch right back at the Peoria hurler, who deflected the shot with his glove. Second baseman Mike McCoy then snagged the ball in the air for the initial out.
Catcher Jose Reyes and center fielder Felix Pie were caught off-guard on the basepaths, enabling McCoy to toss the ball to second, and then to first to complete the triple play.
"You don't see that very often at all," Garcia said. "Our guys were like, 'What happened?' but it was kind of exciting to see."
In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and the Lugnuts trailing 6-4, Chirinos drove a two-RBI double to the wall to tie the game.
Shortstop Buck Coats then reached first on an error while Chirinos advanced to third.
Chirinos was able to scurry home on the next pitch on a pass ball to complete the dramatic comeback and give Lansing the 7-6 win.
Prior to the Memorial Day matchup with the Chiefs, the Lugnuts salvaged a 2-2 series split with Dayton after a 6-1 victory on Sunday.
Lansing used a four-run rally to down the Dragons (26-25). Lugnut hurler Justin Jones (2-3) all but silenced the Dayton bats, allowing just one hit in 6 1/3 innings while striking out a career-high 11 batters.
On Friday and Saturday, the Lugnuts suffered back-to-back losses, falling to the Dragons 4-1 and 4-2, respectively.
Dayton secured its first win in more than a year on Friday at Oldsmobile Park.
The Lugnuts were out-hit 12-5 in the contest, and previously undefeated starter Anderson Tavarez (6-1) suffered his first loss of the season, and his first since winning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week.
A four-run second inning was all Dayton would need to put Lansing away on Saturday.
Southpaw Carlos Vasquez (4-3) took the loss for the Lugnuts.
Lansing opened the series with a 5-3 win over Dragons on Thursday night.
First baseman Kevin Collins knocked in four of the five runs on a double, a single and a towering homer to right field.
The 'Nuts continue their four-game home series against Peoria today at 7:05 p.m.
