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CalL Fresno Grizzlies

Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes at Stockton

July 3, 2022 - California League (CalL)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release


FOURTH OF JULY IS AROUND THE CORNER: The Grizzlies return home on Monday with one of their biggest games of the year - the team's annual Independence Day Celebration! A Central Valley tradition like none other, the Grizzlies' July 4th game will feature a matchup between the Grizzlies and San Jose Giants, Single-A Affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Chukchansi Park's gates will open up at 5:05pm with pregame festivities beginning at 6:35p. As always, the Grizzlies are pulling out all of the stops for their Fourth of July celebration. Fans will be able to enjoy specialty cocktails at Michelob Ultra's Fresno Social, the extremely popular Chorizo Mac & Cheese Dog, water slides in the Community Medical Centers Splash Park, and food trucks courtesy of Fresno Street Eats. After the final out is made, fans will be invited down to sit on the outfield grass and enjoy the Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza presented by Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino and ABC30 - the largest and most exciting fireworks display in the Central Valley. Fans can take advantage of multiple ticket offers from the Fresno Grizzlies. The organization will be hosting a pregame All-You-Can-Eat Meal in the Estrella Jalisco Cantina starting when gates open. This $40 package includes a game ticket and access to the exclusive meal area. Patrons interested in attending the July 29 Nitro Circus event and the July 4th game can purchase a ticket package for only $55. These offers and more can be found at FresnoGrizzlies.com/Offers. Single Game Tickets are also available for Monday's game starting at $15 and can be purchased at FresnoGrizzlies.com or by visiting the Chukchansi Park Ticket Office.

ONE YEAR AGO, THE COMEBACK OF THE CENTURY: One year ago today, the Grizzlies walked-off on the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 10-9, marking one of the biggest comebacks in Fresno history. The Grizzlies trailed 9-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth before they made their largest comeback of the 2021 season. The seven-run differential was quickly erased thanks to four home runs in the final two frames. Ezequiel Tovar (8 HR, club-high), Mateo Gil (4 HR) and Colin Simpson (1 HR) each went deep in the eighth, cutting the deficit to 9-7. In the ninth, Tovar made it a one-run game with a double to right. This brought up Grant Lavigne, who whacked a 1-1 pitch to deep right field, ending the contest 10-9. His walk-off homer was the third game-winner for the Grizzlies that season and the first via longball. Overall, this was the seventh comeback victory of 2021 and a season-high crowd of 9,197 were able to witness it.

STOCK-PILING SOME FACTS: The Fresno Grizzlies and Stockton Ports (Athletics Single-A affiliate) conclude their six-game series tonight at Banner Island Ballpark. This is the fourth series between the clubs in 2022 and the second meeting in Stockton. One name on Stockton's coaching staff that may seem familiar to Fresno fans is hitting coach Kevin Kouzmanoff, who played seven MLB seasons and played against Fresno from 2011-2014. The Ports are managed by Franklin Font, who was initially tabbed to be the assistant hitting coach. Font will continue his managerial career at the helm in Stockton, coming back to the states from France where he served as the manager for the Aigles of France in 2021, an independent team of the ESBL (European Super League of Professional Baseball). He was a part of the Chicago Cubs organization for over 10 years where he started as a development manager and minor league rover instructor in 2008 before being promoted to the major league staff as the assistant hitting coach in 2012 and ultimately a staff assistant from 2013-2020. Finally, Stockton broadcaster Alex Jensen coached Grizzlies righty Cullen Kafka when he played JV baseball at De La Salle High School.

STATEMENT AGAINST STOCKTON: The Grizzlies have found success against the Ports over the past two seasons. Thanks to yesterday's 5-4 win, the Grizzlies improved to 17-3 (+95 run differential, 172-77) against the Ports this year, 34-10 against Stockton over the past two seasons and 21-2 at Banner Island Ballpark (109-36 run differential this year). Fresno has mashed 51 homers over their 20 affairs against Stockton this season, with four contests of five taters or more. On the other side of the ball, the Grizzlies pitching staff has struck out 175 batters over the past 16 contests against the Ports.

ROARING ON OFFENSE: Over the first four games of the series, the Fresno offense plated 54 runs on 66 hits with 18 of them leaving the yard. The Grizzlies tallied another five runs on 10 hits with two more wallops on Saturday. In the top of the first, Hunter Goodman lifted a two-run shot to left-center field, his California League best 22nd longball of the season. It was the 100th homer recorded by Fresno in 2022 and the fourth by Goodman in the series. In the sixth, Juan Guerrero drilled the second two-run dinger of the contest. It was Guerrero's eighth clout of the year and second straight game going deep. Two innings later, Guerrero pushed the Grizzlies ahead after scoring on a passed ball and two throwing errors by Stockton.

GUERRERO IS THE RBI GURU: Juan Guerrero has had at least one RBI over his last six games (12 RBI overall and seven game hit streak, season-long for him). The last Grizzlies batter to accomplish this feat was Colin Simpson, who had a seven-game RBI streak last season from July 9-18. Simpson had 10 RBI in that span.

ZACH ATTACK: Grizzlies outfielder Zach Kokoska has been on a tear over the past few weeks. On June 14th, Kokoska was batting .192. Since then, he has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games, bumping his average to .251. Kokoska is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak, the longest span in his professional career. In that stretch, Kokoska is 18-for-44 (.409) with four homers, two doubles, one triple, eight RBI, 12 runs and two walks. Of those four homers, three of them have come in the current series against Stockton. Kokoska was selected in the 10th round of the 2021 draft out of Kansas State.

WEAR THE BEAR: Red (10-11), Beige (7-3), Black & Gold (8-1), Gray (18-11), Specialty Promo (1-2), Fresno Tacos (0-0), Lowriders de Fresno (Copa de la Diversion, 0-0), Fresno Growers (1-0), Fresno Tigers (0-1), Red Pants (2-2).

PLAYOFF BOUND IN THE "GROWL"IFORNIA LEAGUE: For the second straight season, the Fresno Grizzlies are headed back to the playoffs after a 4-2 win over the Modesto Nuts on June 22nd from Chukchansi Park. Over those two years, Fresno has clinched both times against Modesto. The Grizzlies claimed the California League Northern Division and the best first half record among the eight teams (41-25). This is the first time in Grizzlies history that the team has made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. The last time Fresno baseball made it to the postseason in back-to-back years were the Fresno Cardinals in 1955-1956. With the California League being split into two halves, the Grizzlies will not know their playoff opponent until the second half ends on September 11th. If the Grizzlies were to also win the second half, the team with the next best record in the Northern Division will play Fresno in the playoffs. The first (Grizzlies, Northern and Lake Elsinore Storm, Southern) and second half (to be determined) division winners will meet in a best-of-three game series. The winners of those series will meet for a best-of-three championship series. Similar to 2021, each Monday will be a day off in the league except for July 4th. All but two series will be six-game series this season. The break for players and coaches will be four days long from July 18th to July 21st.

NEW RULES IN 2022: Major League Baseball announced in March that experimental rules will expand in the California League for the 2022 season. The following rules include the return of the pitch clock and pickoff limits. Pitchers must deliver a pitch within 14 seconds with the bases empty and 18 seconds with runners on base. Hitters must be in the batter's box and be alert to the pitcher with nine seconds left. Pitchers will also be limited to two pickoff attempts or step-offs per plate appearance; any more without retiring the baserunner will effectively function as a balk. The league also added larger bases, increasing the size from 15 to 18 inches, a rule in place at Triple-A during the 2021 season. The increase is aimed to provide more room for players to operate around the bases, while modestly shrinking the distance between bases themselves. Additionally, the larger bases are composed of material that is expected to perform better in wetter conditions. Finally, teams must have a minimum of four defensive players on the infield when a pitch is delivered, with at least two infielders on either side of second base. The penalty for violation is an automatic ball, but if the hitter swings and gets a better outcome, the offensive team can take that. Goal is to increase batting average on balls in play.

SHUTOUT IN STOCKTON: On Thursday, June 30, McCade Brown, Tyler Ras and Felix Ramires gave the Grizzlies their third shutout victory of 2022 and their most recent goose egg since May 21 versus Rancho Cucamonga. Brown hurled a career-high six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while fanning eight. The only hit permitted by Brown was a second inning, one-out double by T.J. Schofield-Sam. Brown would go on to retire 14 of the next 15 batters with the other Port reaching via error. The righty would enjoy his first win in a Fresno uniform after 81 pitches. Ras struck out a pair of batters over two frames while Ramires punched out one in a strong ninth inning.

LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY: The Grizzlies roared past the Ports 22-2 Tuesday night from Banner Island Ballpark. Fresno's 20-run margin of victory tied the franchise record that was initially set on June 30, 2016, against the Salt Lake Bees (23-3) at Smith's Ballpark. The 22 runs ranks third in Grizzlies history and the most scored by Fresno since they became a Rockies affiliate. The Grizzlies plated a franchise-best 24 runs on August 25, 2006 versus Sacramento. Fresno's offense supplied season-highs in runs (22), hits (20), homers (6), triples (1), extra-base hits (12) and total bases (45). All 10 batters who appeared for Fresno enjoyed at least one hit with nine of them scoring at least once. Every Grizzlies starter drove in one run with five separate hitters tallying multiple RBI. Fresno relished a run in six different innings, plating five in the fifth and eight in the eighth. Those two frames have been the highest scoring innings for the Grizzlies offense this year.

GREEN GOES FOR THE GRIZZLIES: Tonight's scheduled starter is lefty Mason Green, a 23-year old from Lenexa, Kansas. Currently, Green ranks first in the California League in ERA (3.01), second in batting average (.235), third in innings pitched (68.2), fourth in WHIP (1.25) and tied for sixth in wins (6) among qualified pitchers. Green was selected by the Rockies in the 12th round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft out of the University of Central Missouri, a Division II college. In Green's last collegiate season, he started all 18 games on the bump, going an outrageous 16-0, finishing his college career without a loss (27-0). Green had one complete game shutout and pitched 104.2 frames. He also struck out 123 batters and walked 26, becoming just the sixth Central Missouri Mule to ever reach 100 strikeouts in a single-season. Read more about Green on Page 2.

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