Grizzlies Report for June 12: Fresno 1, Salt Lake 0

Matching Lincecum – Though former San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum is who most everyone came to see Sunday, Grizzlies starting pitcher Brady Rodgers held his ground against the two-time Cy Young Award winner. Rodgers threw eight scoreless innings with eight strikeouts as the Grizzlies defeated the Salt Lake Bees 1-0 on Sunday. Lincecum, who was playing in his final tuneup before joining the Los Angeles Angels, threw seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. The Grizzlies scored the game’s lone run in the eighth with Nolan Fontana touching home on a balk by Bees reliever Jose Valdez. “If it had anything to do with the crowd or Lincecum, I’m all for it,” Rodgers said of his outing. “It felt good to be out there for sure.”

Up next – The Fresno Grizzlies hit the road to play the rival Sacramento River Cats for the first time this season. The four-game series begins Monday at 7:05 p.m. with Grizzlies RH Mike Hauschild (5-6, 3.75 ERA) set to face River Cats LH Matt Lujan (0-5, 4.40). The Grizzlies (25-35) are just ahead of the River Cats (26-37), who are last in the Pacific Coast League’s Pacific Northern Division. Since last season, the River Cats have been the San Francisco Giants Triple-A affiliate.

Lincecum’s Triple-A track record – Lincecum finished his three-game stint back in Triple-A with a 2.65 ERA and 19 strikeouts and six walks in 17 innings. He’s set to debut with the Angels this week.

Sunday rest – Though an established major leaguer such as Lincecum was on the mound Sunday, the Fresno players with the most major-league experience were absent from the Grizzlies’ lineup. Preston Tucker, Matt Duffy, Jon Singleton and Max Stassi did not start Sunday. Combined, the four have played in 279 games and accumulated 799 at-bats in the bigs.

The Fresno Bee

This story was originally published June 12, 2016 at 9:47 PM with the headline "Grizzlies Report for June 12: Fresno 1, Salt Lake 0."