PCL1 Fresno Grizzlies

Late Rallies Come Up Short In 4-2 Defeat To New Orleans

Published on May 22, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release


FRESNO - For a moment, it appeared that the Grizzlies might snap out of their offensive funk and come from behind to win on Saturday night. But the spark was too little, too late for Fresno, which fell 4-2 to New Orleans in front of 9,991 at Chukchansi Park.

With the Grizzlies trailing 4-1 and with two outs and nobody aboard in the eighth, Zephyrs reliever Victor Garate let an errant pitch fly to the screen, provoking an argument between Brett Pill at the plate and catcher Vinny Rottino. Both benches and bullpens cleared before order was restored, and Pill flared a broken-bat single to center to keep the inning alive. Ishikawa walked again, bringing on Zephyrs closer Jose Ceda. Ceda tossed one wild pitch to allow the runners to move to second and third, then another to score Pill and advance Ishikawa to third. He worked the count full on Brad Eldred, who torched a line drive right into the mitt of Dominguez at third to end the threat, keeping it 4-2.

The Grizzlies threatened again in the ninth, getting runners to second and third with two out, but Ryan Rohlinger struck out looking to end the game. Fresno finished the night 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, stranding nine on the night.

New Orleans got on the board early, as Mike Cervenak and Jesus Merchan led off the top of the third with back-to-back doubles to give New Orleans the first lead of the ballgame. Two outs later, Joe Thurston singled to score Merchan, putting the Zephyrs ahead, 2-0.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, Matt Dominguez tomahauked a 3-1 offering from Grizzlies starter Matt Yourkin (3-4) into the left field bleachers, making it 3-0. In the fifth, Chris Aguila led off with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a fly out to right and scored on a single by Dominguez, pushing the lead to 4-0.

The Grizzlies got two baserunners in each of the first two innings, but failed to score. They would not get another hit against New Orleans starter Tom Koehler until Chris Stewart's two-out, RBI-double in the bottom of the seventh, scoring Travis Ishikawa from first. Koehler (5-0) finished 6.2 innings of two-hit ball, allowing the single run while walking four and striking out five.

Yourkin's strikeout of Rottino in the bottom of the first was the 500th of his professional career, which began with the Marlins organization back in 2004. He finished the night with seven strikeouts, allowing four runs (three earned) in 6.0 innings of work.

Tyler Graham stole a pair of bases on the evening, extending his PCL-leading mark to 19 on the season. Graham was also caught stealing once, just the second time he has been gunned down this year.

The Grizzlies will aim for the split of the four-game set Sunday afternoon at 3:05pm, with Fresno righty Doug Mathis (0-1) taking on Zephyrs southpaw Sean West (0-1).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 22, 2011


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