Grizzlies Report for July 3: Fresno 9, El Paso 5

Friday recap: Matt Duffy, Tyler White and Andrew Aplin all had RBI hits in a four-run tiebreaking ninth as the Grizzlies won 9-5 to close the series at El Paso. The Chihuahuas in their half loaded the bases with two outs via three walks, but Kevin Chapman survived by striking out Jake Goebbert on a contested called third strike that led to Goebbert’s postgame ejection. El Paso took a 4-1 lead after an inning, but Fresno responded with three in the second on Jake Marisnick’s bases-loaded double and it was 5-5 through three innings.

Grizzlies on Saturday: Food, fireworks (and a little baseball) are on tap as Fresno returns for a four-game homestand against Tacoma — a matchup of the top two teams in the Pacific Coast League’s Pacific North. LH Brett Oberholtzer (1-2, 5-68 ERA), who made a dramatic exit from his latest call-up to major league parent club Houston, was to face a Rainiers pitcher to be named in the 7:05 p.m. opener. Oberholtzer had pitched reasonably well with the Astros (2-1, 4.32) until a June 27 blowup that ended in his ejection after he threw a pitch that nearly hit New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez. Astros manager A.J. Hinch said “a little bit of everything” went into the demotion, including a need for some bullpen help.

Celebration: Live music, a hot dog-eating contest, food trucks and a postgame fireworks show are among the festivities scheduled for Saturday’s Fourth of July celebration at Chukchansi Park. Gates open at 5:35 p.m.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Grizzlies Report for July 3: Fresno 9, El Paso 5."