Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes vs San Jose
Published on July 8, 2023 under California League (CalL)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release
The Grizzlies and Giants continue their six-game series tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 6:50 pm PT from Chukchansi Park. Grizzlies RHP Anderson Pilar and Giants LHP Seth Corry are the probable starters. I have attached the roster/game notes. The link below has everything needed for tonight.
To listen to tonight's game: https://www.milb.com/fresno/fans/audio-listen-live
Tonight's Promotion:
7/8 (Saturday, July 8th) - Military Appreciation Night
First Pitch: 6:50pm
Opponent: San Jose Giants
Promotion: Military Appreciation Night! $10 Field Box Tickets for ALL Active and Former Military!
Taco Trucks: Patron Tacos
Other Details: Fresno Social Bar Open, Splash Park open, Water Slides, Bounce Houses, EVERYONE runs the bases post-game & More!
Fres-Notes:
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Fresno Grizzlies (47-32, 11-2) fell to the San Jose Giants (44-35, 4-9) 11-6 Friday night from Chukchansi Park. With the loss, the Grizzlies dropped to 11-2 in the second half, 14-3 in their last 17 games and 24-6 in their last 30 contests. Fresno saw their six-game winning streak come to an end, their first setback in July. The Grizzlies moved to 10-9 against the Giants this season. Once again, Skyler Messinger led the offense with another multi-hit and RBI game. Messinger crushed a clout for the second straight night, the third time in the series and eighth overall on the season.
SECOND HALF SUCCESS: The Grizzlies have the second best record in Minor League Baseball during the second half (11-2), trailing the Hickory Crawdads (High-A Texas Rangers), who are 12-1.
GIANT AMOUNT OF MATCHUPS: The Fresno Grizzlies and San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants Single-A affiliate) continue their six-game series tonight at Chukchansi Park. This is the fourth of five series between the clubs in 2023 and the last set in Fresno. Last season, the Grizzlies won 17 of the 30 meetings between the clubs and swept the Giants in the Divisional Series 2-0. Overall, Fresno is 43-36 (10-9 in 2023) in the regular season and 2-3 in the playoffs against San Jose since the Grizzlies joined the California League.
FROM FRIEND TO FOE: The San Jose Giants have a few names on their coaching staff that the Central Valley may recognize. Giants pitching coach Dan Runzler was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 9th round of the 2007 MLB Draft. He played for the Grizzlies from 2009-14, appearing in 144 games. Runzler pitched in the majors for parts of five seasons (Giants 2009-12, Pirates 2017) before playing overseas and independent ball. Over 97 big league games, he logged a 4-2 record with a 3.89 ERA over 76.1 innings. Another staff member fans may remember is Giants hitting coach Travis Ishikawa. The Giants selected Ishikawa in the 21st round of the 2002 MLB Draft out of Federal Way HS in Washington. Ishikawa played eight MLB seasons starting in 2006 and ending in 2015 with time spent in San Francisco (2006, 2008-10, 2014-15), Milwaukee (2012), Baltimore (2013), New York AL (2013) and Pittsburgh (2014-15). Ishikawa wore a Grizzlies uniform in 2008, 2011 and 2014, playing in 175 games. The final coach fans may remember is Giants Fundamental Coach Ydwin Villegas. The always smiling infielder played for the Grizzlies from 2011-14, appearing in 95 games. Villegas batted .208 and had a .962 fielding percentage.
HIP HIP JORGE: The Grizzlies added INF Dyan Jorge from the ACL Rockies on Monday. Jorge is listed as the Rockies #16 overall prospect on MLB.com. He becomes the fourth Cuban prospect to suit up with the Grizzlies since 2021 (Eddy Diaz, Yanquiel Fernandez and Andy Perez). You can read more about Jorge on Page 37 of the Media Guide.
DON'T MESS(INGER) WITH SKYLER: Grizzlies infielder Skyler Messinger has hit safely in six straight games, the current longest streak by a Fresno batter. Messinger is 12-for-24 (.500) with three homers, four doubles, 10 RBI and five runs in the hit streak.
EJ AND THE SB: Grizzlies outfielder EJ Andrews Jr. has stolen seven bases this season, one in seven different games. Fresno is 7-0 when Andrews Jr. swipes a base with all seven games ending within three runs. Four of those seven games have been one-run Fresno wins.
PILAR PITCHES: Tonight, the Grizzlies hand the ball to righty Anderson Pilar, who played for Fresno in 2021. The 25-year-old has a career 2.70 ERA over 273.2 innings (166 games, nine starts). You can read more about the Dominican native on Page 2 of the Game Notes.
SINGLE-SEASON SAVES RECORD WATCH: Grizzlies closer Zach Agnos has a California League-leading 14 saves this season, one shy of joining the franchise's Top 10 in single-season saves. Jean Machi (2012) and Heath Hembree (2012) each recorded 15 saves that season for 10th all-time.
COMEBACK CLAWS: This season, the Grizzlies have scored 38% of their runs in innings 7-9 (176 runs of 465 total runs). The seventh inning has been the most productive for Fresno with 73 runs scoring. The eighth frame is right behind in productivity with 67 runs scoring.
CARDIAC BEARS: This season, 37 of the Grizzlies 79 games have ended in one or two-run affairs (47%). Fresno is 16-9 (11-4 at home) in one-run games and 7-5 (5-2 at home) in two-run contests. Overall, the Grizzlies are 23-14 in those games with a 16-6 record at home.
MAYBE WE DON'T WANT THE PITCH CLOCK: The Grizzlies are 16-4 this season when a game lasts longer than 2 hours and 40 minutes.
SUNDAY FUNDAY: The Grizzlies have won nine consecutive Sunday games dating back to April 30.
RITTER WINS TWO CALIFORNIA LEAGUE AWARDS: Grizzlies INF Ryan Ritter was named by Minor League Baseball as the California League Player of the Week for June 26 - July 2 and the California League Player of the Month for June. Ritter's impressive series at Stockton helped the Grizzlies earn a series win against the Ports. In five games last week, Ritter went 12-for-20 (.600) with four homers, one double, seven RBI, 11 runs, five walks, one HBP and two stolen bases. The University of Kentucky product reached base 21 total times in the series. The Rockies 2022 4th-round draft pick homered twice on Thursday, again on Friday (back-to-back games), and for good measure, added another longball on Sunday. Ritter batted .353/.418/.706/1.124 over 23 games in the month of June. He smashed six homers (one walk-off), three triples and six doubles. Ritter notched 30 hits, 22 RBI, 20 runs, nine walks and one stolen base in the month. He reached base successfully in 21 of the 23 games, including his final 21 contests. Of the 23 games, Ritter had a hit in 18 of them. Ritter was promoted to High-A Spokane on July 3rd. He left the California League ranked among the Top 10 of the league's hitting leaderboard in 10 categories. He ranked first in homers (18), first in total bases (149), first in extra-base hits (35), first in slugging percentage (.606), first in OPS (1.011), tied for first in RBI (58), third in runs (53), fourth in hits (75), fifth in OBP (.405) and ninth in batting average (.305) as of July 3rd. Ritter had reached base successfully in his final 23 Fresno games and smacked a hit in 20 of his last 25 games. Ritter gives the 2023 Grizzlies their eighth California League award this season (Jamari Baylor, Connor Staine, Blake Adams, twice and Ritter, four times). Last year, Fresno won 14 California League honors (Weekly and Monthly), a franchise record.
FERNANDEZ FLEXING TO THE FUTURES GAME: On June 26, the rosters for the 2023 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game were announced and former Fresno Grizzlies OF Yanquiel Fernandez (2022-23) will represent the Rockies. Yanquiel Fernandez is ranked as the Rockies #3 overall prospect and made quite an impression while donning a Grizzlies uniform. In 2022, Fernandez was named as the best designated hitter in the California League. The Cuban native finished the regular season as the all-time leader in Grizzlies franchise single-season RBI. On September 8th at San Jose, Fernandez crushed a clout, giving him 109 RBI on the season. He passed Scott McClain (2008) and A.J. Reed (2018) with that honor. Fernandez also ended the regular season ranked in the Top 10 in franchise single-season doubles (33, T-6th) and total bases (241, 10th). The then 19-year-old was awarded Player of the Week honors twice, one from June 6-12 and another from August 8-14. He concluded his season with a .284 batting average, .507 slugging percentage, .847 OPS, 21 homers, five triples and 76 runs scored. He played with Fresno for 3 games to open the 2023 season and is now in Double-A Hartford. Make sure to watch the 2023 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on Saturday, July 8, at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) from Seattle's T-Mobile Park. It will air exclusively on Peacock and SiriusXM. MLB Network will co-produce the telecast as well.
WEAR THE BEAR: Beige (7-5), Red (22-10), Black & Gold (3-5), Gray (9-8), Fresno Tacos (0-2), Lowriders de Fresno (Copa de la Diversion, 1-1), Fresno Growers (1-0), Fresno Tigers (1-0), Specialty Promo (3-1), Red Pants (2-0).
Upcoming Probable Pitchers:
JULY 9, 2023 VS. SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): CHUKCHANSI PARK - 5:05 PM PT
San Jose LHP Hayden Wynja (4-1, 4.11) vs. Fresno RHP Jackson Cox (1-0, 8.33)
JULY 14, 2023 @ LAKE ELSINORE STORM (SAN DIEGO PADRES): LAKE ELSINORE DIAMOND - 7:15 PM PT
Fresno TBD vs. Lake Elsinore TBD
JULY 15, 2023 @ LAKE ELSINORE STORM (SAN DIEGO PADRES): LAKE ELSINORE DIAMOND - 5:15 PM PT
Fresno TBD vs. Lake Elsinore TBD
JULY 16, 2023 @ LAKE ELSINORE STORM (SAN DIEGO PADRES): LAKE ELSINORE DIAMOND - 1:05 PM PT
Fresno TBD vs. Lake Elsinore TBD
Transactions:
7/8: RHP Connor Staine: Placed on IL
7/8: RHP Anderson Pilar: Assigned to Fresno from ACL Rockies
7/6: RHP Javier Ramos: Assigned to Fresno from ACL Rockies
7/3: INF Dyan Jorge: Assigned to Fresno from ACL Rockies
7/3: INF Ryan Ritter: Assigned to High-A Spokane from Fresno
7/3: LHP Felix Ramires: Assigned to High-A Spokane from Fresno
Upcoming Promotions:
7/9 (Sunday, July 9th) - Save Mart Sundays & Kids Run The Bases w/FREE Ice Cream from Producers Dairy!!
First Pitch: 5:05pm
Opponent: San Jose Giants
Promotion: Pregame Catch on the Field! Come join us for some catch before the game starts- From 4:05pm to 4:35pm!
Promotion: Save Mart Sundays, EVERYONE runs the bases post-game w/FREE Ice Cream from Producers Dairy!
Other Details: Fresno Social Bar Open, Splash Park open, Water Slides, Bounce Houses, EVERYONE runs the bases post-game & More!
California League Stories from July 8, 2023
- Quakes Take Care of Business in 11 - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes vs San Jose - Fresno Grizzlies
- Stockton Hangs on to Make It Three in a Row over Modesto - Stockton Ports
- Late Fresno comeback thwarted by 5-run San Jose 9th - Fresno Grizzlies
- Ninth-Inning Outburst Propels Giants Past Grizzlies, 11-6 - San Jose Giants
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