Grizzlies Trail Early, Fall in Washington
May 25, 2019 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
WASHINGTON, Pa. - The Gateway Grizzlies allowed six first-inning runs Saturday night and trailed the rest of the way in an 8-2 loss to the Washington Wild Things at Wild Things Park.
Washington (4-11) evened the three-game series at one game apiece.
Gateway (7-7) did not score until the eighth inning, when Shawon Dunston Jr. and Luke Lowery delivered back-to-back RBI singles with two outs. Lowery extended his team-best hitting streak to eight games and Brent Sakurai extended his to seven straight.
Sakurai and Anthony Ray, who doubled and scored the first Grizzlies run in the eighth, were the only two Gateway batters to reach base twice.
Thomas Nicoll (0-2) took the loss for the Grizzlies. After allowing six runs in the first inning and one more in the second, he did not permit another run for the remaining 4 2/3 innings. He finished with a career-high nine strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. At one point, Nicoll retired 11 Wild Things in a row. He also gritted his way through 120 pitches, a tremendous boost for a depleted Grizzlies bullpen. Nicoll and Wild Things starter Nick Wegmann (1-2) both sat through a 51-minute rain delay after the first inning.
Washington banged out six hits - including three doubles and a home run - in its six-run first inning. Gateway has allowed 18 first-inning runs in 14 games this season.
Still without a three-game winning streak in 2019, the Grizzlies will go for a series win in the finale Sunday at 4:35 p.m. CDT.
Frontier League Stories from May 25, 2019
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- Big First, Excellent Start for Wegmann Differences in Series-Evening Win - Washington Wild Things
- Grizzlies Trail Early, Fall in Washington - Gateway Grizzlies
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- Freedom Walk-Off in Extras Opener with Miners - Florence Y'alls
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