PEORIA, Ill. - The Peoria Chiefs finished off a three-game sweep of the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Thursday night with a 6-3 win before 2,277 fans at Dozer Park.

Cedar Rapids collected six hits Thursday and was held to five total runs in the three-game set. The Kernels went 1-6 on the road trip to open the second half.

Peoria took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Vaughn Bryan led off by lining a ball to left that rolled to the wall for a triple. CJ McElroy, Jr. then chopped a RBI single and later scored when Mason Katz reached on a RBI fielder's choice.

The Kernels got on the board in the third inning with a run to cut the Chiefs lead to 2-1. Jon Murphy led off by lining a double deep into the gap in left-center. Ryan Walker then pushed a singleto left field, moving Murphy up to third base. After Walker was caught stealing, Murphy scored on Zack Granite's RBI groundout.

The Chiefs quickly got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Justin Ringo singled into right leading off the inning. He later scored on Luis Perez's RBI fielder's choice.

The Kernels cut the Chiefs lead to 3-2 in the fourth. Chad Christensen led off with a walk. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Peoria starter Alex Reyes - one of three wild pitches in the inning by the righty. Christensen scored when Bryan Haar pulled a hard-hit RBI single into left.

Aaron Slegers (5-5) took the loss for the Kernels. He went six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking three.

The Chiefs delivered the knockout punch in the seventh inning when Luis Perez connected for a two-out, two-run triple to center field, increasing Peoria's lead 6-2.

The Kernels threatened in the ninth but settled for one run to make the score 6-3. Christensen walked and Haar singled to begin the inning. A double play off the bat of Alex Swim sent Christensen to third base, and he scored on a RBI single into left field by J.D. Williams. Tanner Vavra followed with a walk, brining Murphy to the plate as the tying run. However, a strikeout ended the game.

Alex Reyes (5-5) went six innings in the win for the Chiefs. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out five and walking one.