Grizzlies Report for Aug. 9: El Paso 5, Fresno 1
Tuesday recap – The Grizzlies were held hitless through five innings and mustered just five in a 5-1 loss at El Paso on Tuesday. The loss widened the gap between Fresno and Pacific Northern Division first-place Tacoma to 4 1/2 games. Grizzlies RH Keegan Yuhl took the loss in first career Triple-A start, giving up seven hits for four runs (all earned) in six innings, including Austin Hedges’ two-run homer in the first that opened the scoring. Yuhl walked none and struck out nine. A day after netting his first Triple-A hit, Fresno’s Derek Fisher hit his first home run with a solo shot in the sixth.
Up next – Fresno will send RH Brady Rodgers (11-3, 2.67) to face RH Carlos Pimentel (11-5, 5.50) and the El Paso Chihuahuas in Wednesday’s series finale that also wraps up the Grizzlies’ season-high 13-game trip. First pitch is 6:05 p.m. at Southwest University Park. Rodgers has won 10 of his past 11 starts and leads the Pacific Coast League in WHIP (1.09) and batters walked per nine innings (1.33, 17 walks in 114.2 IP). His ERA is second in the PCL and his 11 wins are tied for second. Rodgers has had quality starts for the Grizzlies in exactly two-thirds of his starts (12 of 18), which ranks second on the team. For the Chihuahuas, Pimentel is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break. In his last start, Pimentel gave up 11 hits, including two home runs, for five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings against Tacoma.
Monday recap – Fresno couldn’t hold on to an early 2-0 lead, giving up five runs in a 5-2 loss in El Paso. The Chihuahuas were fueled by home runs from Nick Torres and Patrick Kivlehan and a dominant ninth inning on the mound from Kevin Quackenbush. The 27-year-old right-hander struck out the side to end the game. Recent Grizzlies call-up Derek Fisher got his first career Triple-A hit with a single in the top of the sixth.
Trending upward – After going 1 for 4 Tuesday, the Grizzlies’ Jon Singleton has hit safely in nine of his past 10 games, batting .300 (12 for 40), with two homers, three doubles, seven RBIs, eight runs and three walks.
XV – Yuhl on Tuesday became the 15th different starting pitcher for the Grizzlies this season.
The Fresno Bee
This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Grizzlies Report for Aug. 9: El Paso 5, Fresno 1."