Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes vs San Jose
July 4, 2022 - California League (CalL)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release
FOURTH OF JULY IS HERE: The Grizzlies are back home 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 features 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 6:35pm. 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.
.500 WITH FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS: Since 2005, the Grizzlies are 8-8 on the Fourth of July. Last season, the Grizzlies snapped a five-game winning streak after losing to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 6-1 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,877.
RED, WHITE AND GIANTS BLUE?: The Fresno Grizzlies and San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants Single-A affiliate) start a six-game series tonight at Chukchansi Park. This is the third series between the clubs in 2022 and the first meeting in Fresno. This season, the two clubs play 30 times against one another with 18 of those contests being held in San Jose. The Giants have won eight of the 12 games this year with eight runs coming as the largest margin of victory. Last season, the two clubs faced each other 33 total times with three of those games being held in the playoffs.
FORMER GRIZZLIES STARS WHO HAVE EARNED THEIR STRIPES: The San Jose Giants coaching staff have a few names that the Central Valley may recognize. Giants pitching coach Dan Runzler was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 9th round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft. He would play for the Grizzlies from 2009-2014, appearing in 144 games. Runzler would then end up pitching in the major leagues for parts of five seasons (Giants 2009-2012, Pirates 2017) before playing overseas and in independent ball. Over 97 big league games, he had a 4-2 record with a 3.89 ERA, 82 strikeouts. 46 walks and 72 hits allowed in 76.1 innings pitched. The other coach and former Grizzlies player fans may remember is Giants hitting coach Travis Ishikawa. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 21st round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Federal Way HS in Washington. Ishikawa would play eight Major League seasons starting in 2006 and ending in 2015 with time spent in San Francisco (2006, 2008-2010, 2014-2015), Milwaukee (2012), Baltimore (2013), New York AL (2013) and Pittsburgh (2014-15). Ishikawa would also don a Grizzlies uniform in 2008, 2011 and 2014, playing in 175 games. In 2008, Ishikawa would bat .310 with a 1.107 OPS over 48 games, one of the best stretches by any Fresno hitter.
PARTY IN THE USA FOR THE OFFENSE: In the six-game series against Stockton, the Fresno offense plated 67 runs on 87 hits with 21 of them leaving the yard. The Grizzlies collected eight runs (five in the final two frames) on 11 hits with one wallop on Sunday. Fresno's bottom half of the lineup (5-9) tallied 10 of the 11 hits, scored all eight runs and drove in five of the seven RBI. Nine-hole hitter Bryant Quijada launched the lone homer, a solo shot in the fifth. It was Quijada's first clout of the season. He became the 10th Grizzlies batter to blast a tater during the series. Eight-spot batter Yorvis Torrealba had three key singles for Fresno. Torrealba tied the game at three in the sixth, pushed the Grizzlies ahead in the eighth and added an insurance RBI in the ninth. Seven-hole hitter EJ Andrews Jr. ripped two doubles of his three hits and powered in one run. Both Juan Guerrero (five-hole) and Ben Sems (six-spot) raced home twice with the latter notching a pair of hits. The other hit and two RBI came from Adael Amador (leadoff), who spanked a double in the eighth.
AS SWEET AS APPLE PIE: Tonight's scheduled starter is righty Jarrod Cande, a 22-year old from Tampa, Florida. This is the sixth start and 10th appearance for Cande since he joined the Grizzlies on May 2. Cande was selected by the Rockies in the 17th round (500th overall pick) of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Florida Southern College (4-year private D-2 college). The righty was a two-way player in college, but has only pitched since turning professional. In his final season at Florida Southern College, Cande started eight games on the bump and appeared in the field nine times. He went 5-0 over 47.2 innings, striking out 39 batters. In 2020, Cande appeared in nine games as a hitter and four as a pitcher. As a hitter, he slashed .250/.368/.438 with one clout in 16 at-bats while as a pitcher, he made two starts and two relief appearances. Over 12.2 innings, Cande fanned 16 batters while recording a 6.39 ERA. Read more about Cande on Page 2.
HOT DOG, THAT GUY IS GOOD: 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. Kokoska was selected in the 10th round of the 2021 draft out of Kansas State.
WEAR THE BEAR: Red (11-11), 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 June 28 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.
JULY 6, 2022 VS. SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): CHUKCHANSI PARK- 6:50 PM PT
LHP Seth Lonsway (7-0, 3.21) vs. RHP Case Williams (6-2, 4.50)
JULY 7, 2022 VS. SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): CHUKCHANSI PARK- 6:50 PM PT
RHP Trevor McDonald (2-2, 2.78) vs. RHP McCade Brown (1-3, 4.70)
JULY 8, 2022 VS. SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): CHUKCHANSI PARK- 6:50 PM PT
LHP Joe Kemlage (0-0, 2.70) vs. RHP Brayan Castillo (1-4, 5.19)
JULY 9, 2022 VS. SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): CHUKCHANSI PARK- 6:50 PM PT
TBA vs. RHP Victor Juarez (4-2, 4.34)
Recent Transactions:
7/1: INF Juan Brito: Activated off IL
6/28: OF Yorvis Torrealba: Assigned to Fresno from A+ Spokane (son of former Fresno Grizzlies and Colorado Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba...father played with Fresno from 1998-99 and 2001...would be the first father/son duo to both play for the Fresno Grizzlies)
6/28: RHP Blake Goldsberry: Assigned to A+ Spokane from Fresno
6/28: 1B/OF Trevor Boone: Assigned to A+ Spokane from Fresno
Upcoming Promotions:
*Reminder- There is NO game on Tuesday for this homestand.
7/6 (Wednesday, July 6th)
First Pitch: 6:50pm
Opponent: San Jose Giants
Other Details: Splash Park, Bounce Houses, EVERYONE runs the bases post-game & More!
7/7 (Thursday, July 7th) Tioga Thursday's
First Pitch: 6:50pm
Opponent: San Jose Giants
Promotion: Two 19.2oz Tioga Beers for just $10!
Other Details: Splash Park, Bounce Houses, EVERYONE runs the bases post-game & More!
7/8 (Friday, July 8th)- Lowriders de Fresno, Copa de la Diversion & Fireworks!
First Pitch: 6:50pm
Opponent: San Jose Giants
Promotion: Low Riders Weekend, team taking field in special game-worn jerseys that can be found in team store! Post-Game Fireworks presented by Hertz Rent-A-Car.
Other Details: Splash Park open, Bounce Houses, EVERYONE runs the bases post-game & More!
7/9 (Saturday, July 9th)- Lowriders de Fresno, Copa de la Diversion
First Pitch: 6:50pm
Opponent: San Jose Giants
Promotion: Low Riders Weekend, team taking field in special game-worn jerseys that can be found in team store!
Other Details: Splash Park, Bounce Houses, EVERYONE runs the bases post-game & More!
7/10 (Sunday, July 10th)- Lowriders de Fresno, Copa de la Diversion, Save Mart Sundays & Kids Run The Bases w/FREE Ice Cream from Producers Dairy!
First Pitch: 5:05pm
Opponent: San Jose Giants
California League Stories from July 4, 2022
- July 4th Sellout Crowd of 11,302 at Chukchansi Park Watches Grizzlies Drop 4-1 Contest to Giants - Fresno Grizzlies
- No Late Fireworks for Quakes on Monday - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes vs San Jose - Fresno Grizzlies
- Giants Fall Behind Early, Lose 8-5 In Homestand Finale - San Jose Giants
- Late Fresno Rally Sinks Ports in Series Finale - Stockton Ports
- Bottom Half of the Lineup Carries Fresno Past Stockton 8-3 on Sunday - Fresno Grizzlies
- Quakes Rock Rawhide on Sunday - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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