'It just kept going': Peoria Chiefs pull upset, move one victory from Midwest League title series

PEORIA — The Peoria Chiefs rode a wind-aided home run, while starting pitcher Max Rajcic took the wind out of Midwest League powerhouse Cedar Rapids' sails in a stunning playoff upset Tuesday.

The Chiefs edged Cedar Rapids — which had the best overall record in the Midwest League this season — 4-3 in Game 1 of the West Division Finals before 1,252 at Dozer Park.

Now Cedar Rapids is on the brink of elimination in the best-of-3 series. The Chiefs will face the No. 1 seeds again in Game 2 on Thursday and, if needed, Game 3 on Friday, both times in Cedar Rapids.

The winner goes to the Midwest League Championship series, also a best-of-3.

Peoria sports fans know well the nature of the 3-game series and no margins for error, having seen the pro hockey Peoria Rivermen navigate through that same format as the No. 1 seed five times. Rarely does a team lose Game 1 and survive the series.

We shall find out if that translates to baseball as well.

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"Every pitch matters," said Rajcic, a Fullerton, Calif., native who started out as a closer at UCLA before converting to the rotation. "It's important to set the tone in a three-game series. When I found out I was starting Game 1, it got me really fired up, and I felt like they had confidence in me."

All he did was strike out a pro career-high nine, hold Cedar Rapids to one run on one hit, walk three and toss 87 pitches over six innings in his pro postseason debut Tuesday.

Two bats, a fierce wind and a 329-foot homer

While Rajcic shut down the Midwest League's No. 1-ranked offense, the Chiefs found themselves with a 4-1 lead delivered by a former Little League World Series player from Mexico.

Around the fourth inning, dark menacing clouds set up overhead at Dozer Park, the temperature dropped, and seriously intense wind came with it, blowing in hard from left field, then shifting to a pushing flow toward the right field corner. Gusts were estimated at about 20-25 mph during those middle innings.

A pair of bats — the kind that fly and bite things — appeared and circled above the home plate area for several innings.

In the end, it was the Chiefs who drew first blood in the series when Peoria third baseman Ramon Mendoza stepped up in the fifth inning against Cedar Rapids righty starter Andrew Morris.

With two outs and a runner on, right-handed hitter Mendoza sliced a 1-1 pitch toward the right field corner, a towering fly ball that seemed to hang up in the air forever, drifting … drifting … drifting …

"Gone," said Mendoza, a Cardinals international free agent signee in the spring of 2018, speaking through an interpreter with a broad grin that needed no translation. "I watched it, I never thought it would go out. I just kept running and it just kept going."

In the end, the two-run shot — which left his bat with an exit velocity of just 91 mph — blew over the wall just inside the right field foul pole, landing 329 feet away from the plate in a portion of the fence that was about 315.

"I know what a big moment that was for us," Mendoza said. "For me, too. I've been through some big games playing baseball, but this was the biggest of my pro career."

Mendoza grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, and started playing baseball at age 4. He played for Team Mexico in the Little League World Series in 2013. His scouting report back then included "Game-changing power." Mendoza hit two home runs and piled up six RBI in a 12-0 win over Australia to open the series at Williamsport, Va. Mexico eventually lost to Tokyo in the international championship game.

Now, a decade later and two weeks past his 23rd birthday, Mendoza is a home run hero again, and this time trying to help the Chiefs knock out the presumptive favorite to win the Midwest League title.

"Cedar Rapids is a very good team, we know that," Mendoza said. "But we all came in here with a mentality that we were going to win. Thankfully, it all worked out for us."

Mad Max was unhittable

Max Rajcic was named Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for August. He's won the honor twice this season, the first Chiefs player to do so in their first full pro season since Rick Ankiel.

The 6-foot, 228-pound Rajcic was a sixth-round pick by St. Louis in the 2022 MLB Draft, and is ranked as the No. 18 prospect in the Cardinals system. At the time of his promotion to Peoria on June 26, he carried a 0.81 WHIP, the lowest among all MiLB pitchers.

He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his High-A debut with Peoria on June 29 — against Cedar Rapids.

Mixing sliders, curves and changeups in with a fastball that sat between 93-94 mph, he had a no-hitter on the board again Tuesday, broken up in the fourth inning on a single to left-center by Jorel Ortega.

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"I came here during the season after a couple of good starts (at low-A) and just trusted my stuff," Rajcic said. "I felt confidence growing. That's really what turned it around for me. Confidence.

"It was great for us to get Game 1. This whole team is growing in its confidence right now.

"Game 1 in a three-game series has a lot at stake, and it was important for us to be able to set the tempo."

They set the tempo with their post-game meal, too, as Rajcic stood holding a plate with a lobster tail on it.

"It's pretty good, not a regular part of what we get," he said, grinning. "We got lobster after we clinched a playoff spot. Tonight is the second time now, after a playoff win."

And the Chiefs hope to add some Kernels to their post-game menu one more time.

How it happened

Cedar Rapids took a 1-0 lead in the second inning without a hit.

Rajcic walked two batters and, in between, hit Luke Keaschall in the head with a 92 mph fastball to load the bases.

The Kernels got the game's first run across on a fielder's choice by Jose Salas.

The Chiefs tied in the third inning when Darlin Moquete blasted a solo shot to left field that sailed 387 feet on an exit velocity of 104 mph. The wind shut down that portion of the field an inning later.

Peoria took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Alex Iadisernia singled through the hole at first, went to third on a slicing single to short right field by Chris Rotondo, then scored when DH Osvaldo Tovalin lined an 0-2 pitch to right-center for a single.

Mendoza delivered his game-turning two-run homer in the fifth for 4-1.

Cedar Rapids, which led the Midwest League with 137 home runs this season, cut Peoria's lead to 4-3 in the eighth inning when right fielder Kala'l Rosario sent a howitzer 107 mph off his bat to dead center for a 416-foot two-run homer off Chiefs righty reliever Edwin Nunez.

Home runs to dead center at Dozer Park are rare. But home runs for Rosario are not, as this was his 23rd of the season.

The Chiefs had a white-knuckle finish in the ninth when reliever Joe King threw balls on eight of his first nine pitches, then came back to get a pair of strikeouts to face a two-out, bases-loaded situation.

It ended when Emmanuel Rodriguez's high chopper to the hole at first base was gloved by Peoria first baseman R.J. Yeager, who tossed to King as the pitcher covered first base.

Chiefs Briefs

The Chiefs now have won three straight playoff games against Cedar Rapids, including a pair of wins in the second round of the 2018 playoffs. … The Chiefs went 31-20 in one-run games during the regular season, tying the Cincinnati Reds for most one-run victories in professional baseball. Game 1 marked win No. 32. … Peoria third baseman Ramon Mendoza is second in the Midwest League in batting average (.455), first in OBP (.552), third in OPS (1.243) and first in hits (25) and doubles (7) since Aug. 22. … Fort Wayne shut out East Division first-half champion Great Lakes, 5-0, in Game 1 of their series Tuesday. … The Chiefs were 6-21 against Cedar Rapids during the regular-season, but 12 games in the series were one-run decisions. … Cedar Rapids finished the season No. 1 in runs scored (694), No. 1 in home runs (137) and No. 1 in walks (634). The Chiefs were 11th in home runs (85), but fifth in batting average (.243) and second in ERA (3.86). … The Chiefs will send RHP Ian Bedell to the mound against Cedar Rapids RHP Cory Lewis in Game 2 of the best-of-3 West Division series. That game is a 6:35 p.m. start in Cedar Rapids.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Midwest League playoffs: Peoria Chiefs upset Cedar Rapids in Game 1