Grizzlies Surrender Late Lead in Loss to Titans
May 28, 2022 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
Ottawa, Ontario - The Gateway Grizzlies dropped their fifth game in a row on Saturday night at Ottawa Stadium, losing a late, two-run lead and falling 5-4 to the Ottawa Titans in 10 innings on a walk-off single by Jason Dicochea, their fourth walk-off defeat in the five contests.
For the fifth time in five games, the Grizzlies plated the game's first run, as Isaac Benard's two-out RBI single in the top of the first inning put Gateway ahead 1-0. They would stay ahead until the bottom of the second inning, when Clay Fisher lined a two-run home run just over the wall in left field to give Ottawa the lead.
Sam Gardner then got into a groove, retiring 14 of the next 15 Titans batters after the home run, including 10 in a row at one point from the fourth through seventh innings in the longest start by a Grizzlies pitcher this season. The offense chipped away, as the Grizzlies tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth on an RBI fielder's choice by Abdiel Diaz, then took the lead in the fifth when Benard hit into a double play with no one out and a runner at third base, making the score 3-2.
Gateway would also plate a big insurance run in the top of the eighth when Jackie Urbaez threw wide to second base for an error trying to start a double play, allowing Josh Goulet to score and make it 4-2. Gardner then retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the eighth, but that is when the trouble began for the Grizzlies.
Urbaez reached on a bunt single and went to second when Clint Freeman's throw caromed into the dugout for an error. With two strikes and two outs, Rodrigo Orozco then made it 4-3 on an RBI single to right field. The Grizzlies brought in John Murphy to face A.J. Wright, and again with two strikes and two outs, the Ottawa infielder tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI double that just eluded the glove of a diving Cam Touchette in left field.
The game ended up in extra innings, and Gateway could not score in the top of the 10th with the International Tiebreaker in effect, and Ottawa walked off on Dicochea's base hit to center field, also with two strikes, to seal the Grizzlies' fate in the series.
Gateway will try and salvage the finale of the road trip on Sunday, May 29, at 12:00 p.m. CT against the Titans, with J.P. Williams drawing the starting assignment against Ottawa's Evan Grills at Ottawa Stadium.
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