PCL1 Fresno Grizzlies

Grizzlies Salvage Series Split with 6-4 Win

Published on June 30, 2013 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release


Fresno, Calif. - The Fresno Grizzlies offense wasted little time establishing a sound lead and beat the Salt Lake Bees 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Chukchansi Park. The win splits the four-game series against the Bees.

The Grizzlies scored a pair of runs in each the first and second innings while adding the eventual game-winning run in the third. Nick Noonan and Johnny Monell had back-to-back two-out doubles in the first to score the Grizzlies' first run. Todd Linden plated Monell with an RBI single later in the first inning that gave the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead.

Kensuke Tanaka's RBI ground-rule double and Noonan's sacrifice fly made it 4-1 Grizzlies in the second inning. Ydwin Villegas drove in Linden with one of his three hits in the game to make it 5-1 Grizzlies in the third.

Linden, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Sunday, went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Grizzlies starting pitcher Chris Heston turned in a solid effort in the warm day game. The right-hander allowed six hits and four runs over 6 2/3 innings to earn the win. Heston has a victory in each of his last two outings.

Two of Heston's four runs allowed were with two outs as he surrendered a triple to Kole Calhoun followed by an Efren Navarro single in the first inning. In his final inning of work in the seventh, Heston allowed three straight hits with two outs, including an RBI single by Luke Carlin to make it 6-4 Fresno. The final hit of the three straight safeties in the seventh chased Heston from the game.

Grizzlies reliever Dan Runzler spelled Heston, and after a passed ball that advanced runners to second and third base, Runzler got a groundout to end the threat. The left-hander retired the Bees in order in the eighth to complete his day of 1 1/3 innings of perfect work.

Heath Hembree threw a scoreless ninth inning to complete his second save of the series and 16th save of the season. Noonan made an over-the-shoulder catch in shallow center field and quickly threw home to get Chris Nelson out at home to complete a double play and end the game.

The series split with Salt Lake ended a stretch of three straight series losses for Fresno.

Chris Dominguez was also one of four Grizzlies with multi-hit games. The third baseman went 2-for-4, giving him seven base knocks in his last three games. The Grizzlies had 12 hits total on Sunday.

The Grizzlies head to Las Vegas to start a three-game series on Monday at 7:05 pm. Left-hander Eric Surkamp will make his Fresno debut and face Las Vegas' Rafael Montero.

Check out the Fresno Grizzlies Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 30, 2013


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