PCL1 Fresno Grizzlies

Pill's Blast Supports Kown's Sixth Victory

Published on May 24, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release


FRESNO- For one tense moment on Monday night, the too-familiar script of a great start, followed by a lackluster finish, seemed inevitable. But the Grizzlies bullpen held up and preserved another sparkling start from Andrew Kown, as Fresno beat Oklahoma City, 7-5, at Chukchansi Park in the opening game of their series.

Kown (6-3) had some trouble adjusting to home plate umpire Barry Larson's strike zone early on, walking a pair in the first inning and forcing home a run to put Oklahoma City up, 1-0.

But the offense came right back to hand Kown a lead, scoring twice in the bottom of the frame. Tyler Graham led the inning off with a walk, then scored on Ryan Rohlinger's double. Rohlinger then advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored one out later on a sacrifice fly by Brett Pill.

Kown escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the third and cruised from there, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. He finished 6.0 innings of work, allowing just the single run on four hits, walking two and striking out four. He now leads the Pacific Coast League with six wins on the season.

The Grizzlies would open the game up in the fourth, scoring four times. Conor Gillaspie led off with a walk and Brett Pill followed with his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a monster blast to left field to make it 4-2. Brandon Belt was then hit by a pitch, and one out later Edgar Gonzalez slapped a wringing double to the wall in center field, plating the third run of the inning. Gonzalez then stole third, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-1 Grizzlies.

The RedHawks made things interesting, scoring four times in the top of the eighth inning against the Fresno bullpen to close the gap to one. Oklahoma City had five hits in the inning, including four in a row at one point against Henry Sosa. But Casey Daigle was able to get the final out of the frame, keeping the Grizzlies in front.

With two outs and runners at first and second in the bottom of the eighth, Belt singled sharply to right field to score Rohlinger with an insurance run, pushing the margin to 7-5.

Marc Kroon shut down the RedHawks with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, closing the door on his 10th save in 11 attempts this season.

These two teams will meet for the second game of this four-game set on Tuesday afternoon at 12:05pm as Grizzlies righty Josh Banks (3-2) vs. Oklahoma City righty Nelson Figueroa (1-0).

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 24, 2011


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