PCL1 New Orleans Baby Cakes

Fresno Turns Tables on Zephyrs with Four-Run Eighth

June 20, 2014 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
New Orleans Baby Cakes News Release


A four-run eighth inning for the Fresno Grizzlies foiled the New Orleans Zephyrs' comeback hopes and sent them to a 7-3 defeat Friday at Zephyr Field.

Fresno scored an unearned run against Z's starter Alex Sanabia in the first inning when a ground ball by Adam Duvall got through Josh Rodriguez at first base, but Sanabia got his first six outs by way of strikeout, including four in the second inning when opposing pitcher Mike Kickham struck out but reached on a wild pitch.

Sanabia finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts in six innings without walking a batter and giving up five hits, including a solo home run by Travis Ishikawa in the fourth that gave Fresno a 2-0 lead.

The Zephyrs came back to tie the game with two runs in the sixth inning when Kickham hit Kyle Skipworth, who came around to score on a ground out by Donovan Solano before Jordany Valdespin walked and later scored on a two-out single up the middle by Mark Canha.

Grant Dayton pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Zephyrs, but Jesus Sanchez (0-4) entered to begin the eighth and gave up three singles and a double around two strikeouts and a wild pitch. He left the game with the score 5-2, but Travis Ishikawa drove home Chris Dominguez with a single to right field against Edgar Olmos for a run charged to Sanchez.

George Kontos (1-2) picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief, while the Grizzlies added a run in the ninth on a single from Nick Noonan to score Mark Minicozzi before Skipworth hit his seventh home run of the year in the bottom of the ninth against Heath Hembree.

Canha was the lone Zephyrs batter with more than one of the team's five hits, going 2-for-4. The Zephyrs struck out 10 times, but their pitchers fanned a season-high 16 batters.

The Zephyrs will continue their homestand with the opener of a four-game series against the Sacramento River Cats at 6 p.m. Saturday at Zephyr Field. Brian Flynn is scheduled to start for the Zephyrs against Sacramento's Matt Buschmann.

Check out the New Orleans Baby Cakes Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from June 20, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central