Grizzlies report for Sept. 3: Fresno 10, Sacramento 5

Saturday recap – Jon Kemmer hit a grand slam to highlight a five-run eighth inning and Keegan Yuhl allowed just five hits over six innings as the Fresno Grizzlies defeated the Sacramento River Cats 10-5 at Raley Field. The grand slam by Kemmer gave the Grizzlies a 9-5 lead before Jon Singleton hit an RBI double later in the inning. Kevin Chapman (3-4) got the win with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief while Jake Dunning (3-4) took the loss. The Grizzlies, who improved to 9-5 against Sacramento this season (5-1 road), need to win one of their final two games to secure their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1998-99.

Up next – RH Mike Hauschild (9-10, 3.10) will start on the mound for the Fresno Grizzlies in their penultimate game of the season against Sacramento at Raley Field at 5:05 p.m. Sunday. RH Chris Stratton (12-6, 4.02) is scheduled to start for the River Cats.

Friday recap – The Grizzlies’ season-ending struggles continued as they dropped their fourth straight game, 5-1 at Sacramento. River Cats starting pitcher Dan Slania struck out nine and gave up just one run in six innings, an RBI double by Tyler Heineman in the sixth. Fresno southpaw Evan Grills took the loss after giving up four runs and seven hits over six innings. The River Cats opened the scoring in the third with a two-out, two-run double by Miguel Olivo.

Struggling – Entering Saturday’s game, the Grizzlies had gone 5-17 over their previous 22 games – and had scored just two runs in the past 33 innings. Part of that can be attributed to call-ups to the parent Astros as they contend for an American League wild card. Of Houston’s active roster, 12 players have played for the Grizzlies this season.

The Fresno Bee

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Grizzlies report for Sept. 3: Fresno 10, Sacramento 5."