Grizzlies Report for July 10: Fresno 8, Sacramento 5
Friday recap: Jonathan Villar, L. J. Hoes and Robbie Grossman hit RBI singles in a five-run seventh that set up a blowout Fresno win, but the Grizzlies had to survive a couple of scary final innings before escaping with an 8-5 victory at Sacramento. Fresno’s big seventh pushed the lead to 8-1, but the River Cats struck back with the help of Kevin Frandsen’s two-run triple in a four-run eighth. The Grizzlies’ bullpen and defense threatened to give it away in the bottom of the ninth, as James Hoyt hit a man, allowed a single and saw Sacramento load the bases on Villar’s fielding error at short. Hoyt struck out Kelby Tomlinson, then yielded to Kevin Chapman who was able to finish it with a lineout and a nine-pitch battle with River Cats home run leader Adam Duvall that ended in a close forceout at second. Fresno improved to 5-4 in the season series.
Grizzlies on Saturday: Fresno RH Brady Rodgers (7-4, 4.39 ERA), the top winner on the staff of the Pacific Coast League Pacific North leaders, takes on Sacramento LH Jack Snodgrass (1-1, 3.24) at 7:05 p.m. Rodgers is coming off his best month of the season, going 4-1 with a 3.07 ERA in five June starts. He started July off with a bang, too, allowing eight hits but only two runs (one earned) in seven innings Monday against Tacoma. Snodgrass’ start will be just his second in eight Triple-A games after the 27-year-old’s call-up from Double-A Richmond at the start of June. His 27 career wins are the franchise record in Richmond.
Stat of the day: 18 of 22 — scoreless outings for Grizzlies RH and PCL All-Star Tyson Perez since he allowed a pair of runs in consecutive outings April 26 and May 1. The rough patch sent the former Hanford High and Fresno City College star’s ERA to a season-high 4.50, but he has since pared it to 2.43. Perez and OF L.J. Hoes are Fresno’s representatives for the All-Star Game against the International League on Wednesday at Werner Park in Omaha, Nebraska. Hoes should thrive on this ultimate road trip. After a 2-for-6 Thursday, he was hitting .359 away from Chukchansi Park compared to .287 at home.
This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Grizzlies Report for July 10: Fresno 8, Sacramento 5."