PCL1 Fresno Grizzlies

Homer Happy Grizzlies Snap Slide

Published on July 2, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release


TACOMA- The Grizzlies found out on Thursday night at Tacoma that the new Cheney Stadium is a more offense-friendly ballpark than its previous incarnation. Fresno took advantage of that fact on Friday, blasting four home runs to help snap its seven-game losing streak with a 10-7 victory over Tacoma.

Fresno (34-48) took no time in jumping on Rainiers starter Chris Seddon (5-5), as Justin Christian tripled to lead off the game. Mike Fontenot then walked, and one out later Brett Pill crushed one to deep left field for a three-run shot to get the Grizzlies on the board.

Tacoma (39-43) would strike back for a pair of runs against Fresno starter Shane Loux (4-9) in the bottom of the first, but the Grizzlies reestablished a three-run cushion in the top of the second. Following walks to Hector Sanchez and Tyler Graham to open the inning, Christian sacrificed the runners over and Fontenot walked again to load the bases for Edgar Gonzalez. The shortstop fell behind 0-2, but came through with a two-run single to center, putting Fresno ahead 5-2 and extending his on-base streak to 36 games in the process.

The Grizzlies would add on again thanks to Christian, who followed two-out singles by Sanchez and Pill with a home run well over the visiting bullpen in left, his second in as many nights.

The Rainiers would chip away, adding two on a Johan Limonta single in the fourth and another on Kyle Seager's second RBI hit of the night in the fifth, cutting the margin to 8-5. But Brad Eldred would get that last run back, leading off the fifth with a towering blast, again down the line in left, his team-leading 15th of the season.

Fresno and Tacoma traded runs again in the sixth, as Pill went deep for the second time in the game, equaling Eldred's season total of 15 longballs. Matt Tuiasosopo doubled home Ralph Enrique in the bottom of the frame to make it 10-6.

Tacoma scored one in the eighth and was threatening for more with two on and two out when Sean Kazmar roped a shot toward the gap in left-center. But Graham sprinted over and made a headlong dive, plucking the ball off the top of the grass before crashing to the turf and going into a cartwheel, hanging on to the ball to end the inning.

The Fresno bullpen bent, but did not break, as four relievers combined to protect Loux's first victory since June 5th, a span of five starts. Marc Kroon made things interesting in the ninth, allowing the tying run to come to the plate twice, but got Thursday night's hero Luis Jimenez to fly out harmlessly to Graham in center field to end it. Kroon earned his first save since closing out the second game of a double-header at home against Las Vegas on June 5th.

After allowing just two runs on six hits over 14.0 innings in his two previous games against Fresno this year, Seddon yielded nine runs on 10 hits in just five frames Friday night.

Pill continued his absurdly hot stretch, finishing 3-for-5 with a double and the two home runs for his fifth straight multi-hit game and his eighth in his last nine contests. He is batting .579 (22-for-38) with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs, 13 runs scored and 17 RBI over that span.

Christian, meanwhile, fell a double shy of the cycle and has seven hits through his first three games as a Grizzly, four of them for extra bases.

These two teams will meet again Saturday night for the third in this four-game set with Grizzlies righty Josh Banks (5-4) taking on Tacoma right-hander knuckleballer Charlie Haeger (1-2) at 7:05pm.

Check out the Fresno Grizzlies Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 2, 2011


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