PCL1 Fresno Grizzlies

Preston Tucker Cracks Two Homers In Tuesday Night Win Over Salt Lake

Published on April 15, 2015 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release


FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno Grizzlies (4-2) lineup piled up runs for a second straight night on way to a 12-4 victory over the Salt Lake Bees (1-5) Tuesday night in front of 2,990 fans at Chukchansi Park. Despite facing Angels right-hander Garrett Richards, who was making a rehab assignment with Salt Lake, the Grizzlies put three runs across on him in the third, two in the fifth, and finally chased the starter in the sixth after Andrew Aplin led off the inning with a single.

Fresno outfielder Preston Tucker stole the accolades tonight by driving a go-ahead two-run homer off Richards over the right field wall in the fifth, and then followed it up with another two-run shot in the seventh off reliever Ryan Mattheus to push the lead to 7-4. It marked Tucker's third career multi-homer game at the Triple-A level.

"We knew we had something special once we figured out who we were going to have on this team," stated Tucker, who is 9-for-24 (.375) with a double, three home runs, seven RBI and seven runs scored over the first six games of the season. "If we all play to our potential, we're going to score a lot of runs. So far we're doing a pretty good job of putting up runs when we need them."

Other notable offensive efforts came from left fielder L.J. Hoes (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R) and third baseman Matt Dominguez (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI). Also, Andrew Aplin made his season debut and went 2-2 with a double, two runs scored and two walks. Not to be forgotten was the night by Jon Singleton, who drew three walks, singled in a go-ahead run in the third, and scored three times. The lefty is batting .400 (8-20) with three doubles, a homer, five RBI, five walks, and eight runs scored through six games. Moreover, he's only struck out three times and owns an on-base percentage of .520.

Left-handed starter Tommy Shirley (W, 1-0) picked up the win, limiting the Bees to four runs over 5.0-plus innings. He left the game after taking a line drive off the inside of his non-pitching wrist in the top of the sixth. With the bullpen sprung into duty, lefty Darin Downs (H, 1), Jason Stoffel (H, 1) and Josh Fields combined to toss 4.0 scoreless innings and scatter two hits.

The Grizzlies look to make it three wins in a row and take the series tomorrow night at 6:35 p.m. against Salt Lake at Chukchansi Park. The theme of the evening is Good Karma, with fans being able to purchase any available seat in the ballpark at whatever price point they'd like. The karma kicks in with half of the proceeds from each ticket purchased benefiting Valley Children's Hospital. The Bees will send left-hander Andrew Heaney to the mound, who entered the season rated by MLB.com as the 26th Best Prospect in all of baseball. He'll face Fresno right-hander Jake Buchanan, who earned the win on Opening Day by throwing 4.0 innings of one-run ball in relief of Brad Peacock and Jordan Jankowski. To purchase tickets for tomorrow's Good Karma Night, head to the Chukchansi Park Box Office (open at 9 AM) or call 559.320.TIXS.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 15, 2015


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