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Fresno Grizzlies

Grizzlies Blast Isotopes in Front of Packed House

August 13, 2011 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release


FRESNO- Perhaps it was the off-day, or maybe it was the energized, packed house. Whatever the reason, the Fresno Grizzlies offense came out firing on all cylinders Friday night, overcoming an early 4-0 deficit to throttle the Albuquerque Isotopes by a final count of 15-10 in front of a sold out crowd of 12,786 at Chukchansi Park.

In a back-and-forth affair, the Grizzlies (54-66) trailed 9-7 until the bottom of the sixth, when the Grizzlies broke the game open in with a bizarre, 14-batter, eight-run sixth inning. The top of the order got things going again for the Grizzlies. Emmanuel Burriss and Edgar Gonzalez both singled in front of Brandon Belt, who worked a full count before driving a ball well out on the lawn left of center field for a three-run bomb to put Fresno back in front 10-9. Conor Gillaspie drew a one-out walk, and Tyler Graham reached on an error by third baseman Russ Mitchell, as Gillaspie went to third. Graham stole second, and Brandon Crawford was intentionally walked to bring up Hector Sanchez, who blooped a single to plate a pair.

That's when things took a turn for the bizarre. Relief pitcher Steve Edlefsen dropped a perfect squeeze bunt to score Crawford, and reached on an infield single, only to get thrown out trying to advance to second. Burriss walked in his second at-bat of the inning, and Gonzalez blooped a ball into no-man's land in shallow right for an RBI-single, his fourth hit and fifth RBI of the night. Belt walked to load the bases for Pill, who blooped a pop-up behind the mound to the third base side that landed between the infielders for another RBI-single. Finally, Gillaspie grounded out to end the frame, with Fresno up 15-9.

Amidst the madness, Albuquerque (60-60) manager Lorenzo Bundy got into a pair of arguments with home plate umpire Matt Schaufert, the second of which got him ejected.

The game opened with a bang, as Ivan DeJesus deposited the third pitch of the contest from Felix Romero well over the left-center field wall for a leadoff home run. The Isotopes weren't done there, though, stringing together two walks and four more hits to post a four-run top half of the first, one which Romero did not survive. Scott Munter came out of the bullpen to get a groundout end the inning.

The Grizzlies roared back in the bottom of the frame, taking the lead before Isotopes starter Alberto Bastardo could record an out. Burriss reached on an error to start the frame and Gonzalez homered to center to cut the lead in half. Belt and Pill both followed with singles to bring up Gillaspie, who torched a three-run shot to right, butting Fresno ahead, 5-4.

After keeping the Isotopes off the board in the second, Fresno stretched its lead with two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Burriss again reached to open the frame, this time on a walk. Gonzalez then hit a near replay of his first shot, another two-run home run to straightaway center field to make it 7-4.

But Albuquerque was far from done, scoring twice in the third inning, then taking the lead on Jamie Hoffmann's three-run shot in the fourth off Grizzlies reliever Ronnie Ray. They held that lead until the fateful sixth inning, when Fresno went ahead for good.

The Isotopes tacked on one final run in the top of the seventh on a two-out, RBI-single by Jay Gibbons to provide the final margin.

Gonzalez finished with four hits, including the two home runs, and five RBI. He is batting .450 (18-for-40) with five walks, five doubles, three home runs, six runs scored and 10 RBI through his first 10 contests in August.

The Grizzlies stole five bases on the game, giving them 176 for the season. If they reach 200, they will be the first PCL team to do so in 23 years. Graham's swipe was his 55th of the year, easily the top mark in the league and the second-highest mark in all of Minor League Baseball.

These teams meet for the second game of this series on Saturday night at Chukchansi Park, as Isotopes righty John Ely (6-5) will be opposed by Major League rehabber Barry Zito (2-0) at 7:05pm.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 13, 2011


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