The Fresno Grizzlies took advantage of five Rancho Cucamonga errors to score eight unearned runs in a 12-3 victory over the visiting Quakes on Wednesday night. Warming Bernabel had three of Fresno’s 11 hits, including two doubles.
Juan Brito (4) and Juan Guerrero (3) each homered for the Grizzlies.
Case Williams (W, 2-1) was sharp in 6 IP, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out nine. Four Fresno pitchers held the Quakes to four hits and struck out 14 batters, though they did combine to issue eight walks. Williams struck out the side in the second and fourth innings and threw a total of 87 pitches, 53 for strikes.
My focus on this trip to the park was Rancho Cucamonga’s starter, Jerming Rosario. The 20-year old took the loss but pitched quite well over most of his 4 IP. He had a costly error behind him in a 5-run fourth inning and was charged with only one earned run after leaving the game with Fresno up 6-2.
Rosario threw 61 pitches, 37 for strikes and was at 94-96 mph on the fastball while topping out at 97. The heater was quite effective but the offspeed command was an adventure. While failing to locate pitches around 80 mph, he was able to come back with blazing stuff and racked up all four of his Ks with swings-and-misses.
The fateful fourth inning saw a couple of offspeed pitches induce awkward swings but a two-out, three-run homer by Guerrero came on a 77-mph hanger. Following Guerrero, Rosario faced what would be his last batter of the game, Trevor Boone. Fresno’s first-baseman saw 96, 97 and 95 as he ended up flying out to CF for the last out.
Jerming Rosario’s career has been up and down, starting with some success in 13 games and 45 1/3 innings of DSL ball in 2019. Last year he split time between the AZL and Rancho Cucamonga with some ghastly numbers in three appearances with the Quakes. This season saw more struggles in three of his first four starts before earning Pitcher of the Week honors for a brilliant 5-inning outing on May 6th. A short, 2 1/3 inning outing followed, then tonight’s start.
The walks and batting average against are coming down and two of his last three starts have been 5 IP and 4 IP, much better than his four April starts. Rosario’s fastball is a force and if he can command his change-of-pace stuff he’ll be able to keep trending upward. He’s an interesting prospect I will be keeping an eye on this year.
SCOREBOARD
LAKE ELSINORE – 10
VISALIA – 7
Gameday
SAN JOSE – 16
INLAND EMPIRE – 4
Gameday
MODESTO – 7
STOCKTON – 9
Gameday
