Grizzlies Report for May 21: Fresno 10, Nashville 2 (video)
Grizzlies on Friday: After a rough start, Fresno RH Brady Rodgers has shown signs of figuring it out. Rodgers (2-2, 5.45 ERA) has allowed one run in his past 11.2 innings and starts at 7:05 p.m. against Nashville RH Kendall Graveman (2-1, 1.85) in game 2 of the series at Chukchansi Park. Graveman has allowed two runs total in his past three starts.
Thursday rewind: The Grizzlies, coming off a 6-2 road trip, kicked off an eight-game homestand with a 10-2 blasting of the Sounds in the series opener. Thursday was filled with highlights, from top prospect Carlos Correa’s Fresno debut to former Cy Young winner Barry Zito pitching against Fresno, to the Grizzlies’ unveiling of the “Frankenslice,” a pizza with a hot-dog stuffed crust that was a one-night-only addition to the concessions menu. Correa didn’t disappoint, homering along with Jon Singleton in the victory. Correa’s blast, his second in as many games, was off Zito with a man aboard in the fourth. Zito (1-4) gave up eight runs (five earned) in 4.2 innings. Singleton hit his in the eighth and drove in three runs on the night — raising his May RBI total to 34. He has nine homers for the month and 13 for the season. Luis Cruz (1-2) allowed two runs on five hits and three walks in seven innings to pick up his second victory in 12 Triple-A starts across the past two seasons.
Correa encounter: Correa played his first game in Fresno after seeing action in eight with the Grizzlies following last week’s promotion from Double-A. Correa crushed the lower level, leading the Texas League in every major offensive category before his departure. He’s shown he has a good handle of Triple-A pitching so far, too, collecting a hit in all but one of his games for a .326 average with two homers and seven RBIs. “You get more veteran guys here,” Correa said in a pregame interview. “Double-A, you have younger guys there. Here, it’s more older people. They know what they’re doing. They move the ball pretty well.” It’s a lot of adjustments you have to make. Then you’ve got to adjust to their adjustments.” Against Zito, Correa popped out in the first and hit an RBI single in the third before homering to center. He grounded out and struck out in his final two at-bats of the Sounds bullpen.
Stat of the day: 15 — Career-high hitting streak for Grizzlies OF Domingo Santana (after a previous best of 14 in 2012) that ended after an 0-for-4 night Thursday. It was the longest streak for the Grizzlies this season and second longest in the Pacific Coast League. Santana is still hitting .338 in 74 at-bats this month and .311 for the season.
This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 11:47 PM with the headline "Grizzlies Report for May 21: Fresno 10, Nashville 2 (video)."