Tag Archives: Fresno Grizzlies

GRIZZLIES DROP RAWHIDE IN EXTRAS

Posted on May 15, 2021 by | Comments Off on GRIZZLIES DROP RAWHIDE IN EXTRAS

SS Ezequiel Tovar homered and drove in three runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the 1th inning as the Fresno Grizzlies won a see-saw battle with the Visalia Rawhide Friday night. The Rawhide scored single runs in the 10th and 11th innings but couldn’t put the game in the win column as Fresno tied it back up in the 11th and won on the strength of Tovar’s two-run double to end it.

Fresno starter RHP Will Ethridge went five innings allowing one run on three hits and striking out six with no walks as the Grizzlies held on to an early 2-1 lead. Tovar, the Colorado Rockies’ #20 prospect per MLB Pipeline, tacked on a run with a solo homer in the fifth.

Visalia rallied for two runs in the eighth to tie it at 3-3 on a Ronnie Simon single to RF where Zac Veen let the ball get past him and two runners  scored. Simon was thrown  out at the plate, which would prove crucial as the game ended up going to extra innings.

RHP Fineas Del Bonta-Smith went two innings in relief for the Grizzlies, striking out six. He allowed an unearned run to score by the installed runner in the 10th after pitching a scoreless ninth.

The Rawhide fell to 1-9 on the season. RHP Brandon Pfaadt went five innings, allowing three runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

The Grizzlies are 7-3 and tied with Modesto for first place in the North division.

SCOREBOARD

MODESTO – 8
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 2
Box

Taylor Dollard (1-0) earned his first win with five dominant innings, allowing one run on five hits with eight Ks and no walks. LF Cade Marlowe (2) and 3B Brett Rodriguez (1) homered as the Nuts offense racked up 15 hits. #7 prospect SS Noelvi Marte went 3-for-5 with a double.

SAN JOSE – 14
STOCKTON – 3
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San Jose had 17 hits, including four-hit nights for SS Abdiel Layer and C Ricardo Genoves, as the Giants got back to .500 at 5-5. Layer (2) homered twice and LF Harrison Freed (1) and CF Luis Matos (2) also went deep. RHP Randy Rodriguez went the final three innings and gave up just one hit and no runs while walking one and striking out six to earn the save despite the blowout score.

INLAND EMPIRE – 7
LAKE ELSINORE – 2
Box 

LHP Ryan Smith (1-0) and LPH Jack Dashwood (S1) combined to cover all nine innings in a 7-2 win over Lake Elsinore. Smith gave up a 2nd-inning HR to Joshua Mears, his only hit allowed, and walked three while striking out eight. Dashwood went the last four innings allowing a run on four hits with no walks and five Ks. 2B Kyren Paris, the Angels’ #7 prospect, homered and LF William Rivera had three hits. The 66ers moved to within 1/2 game of the Storm in the South division standings.

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STORM GO TO 4-0, QUAKES vs. 66ERS POSTPONED

Posted on May 8, 2021 by | Comments Off on STORM GO TO 4-0, QUAKES vs. 66ERS POSTPONED

The Lake Elsinore Storm stayed perfect in Low-A West play with a dramatic 9-8 win in extra innings in Visalia Friday night while the league also saw its first postponement for covid-related reasons.

The game between the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Inland Empire 66ers was postponed shortly before the scheduled first pitch with the 66ers ultimately posting this message on it’s official Twitter account:

Tonight’s scheduled game between the Inland Empire 66ers and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at San Manuel Stadium has been postponed to allow for continued testing and contract tracing involving members of the 66ers organization. MLB and the 66ers will provide further updates as they become available.

No info on tonight’s scheduled game is available at this time.

 

SCOREBOARD

 

LAKE ELSINORE – 9
VISALIA – 8
Box

The Lake Elsinore Storm became the league’s only 4-0 team by winning another back-and-forth battle with the Visalia Rawhide. Friday night’s win saw CF Robert Hassell III knock in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th with a leadoff triple, driving in the installed runner from second base. Euribiel Angeles brought Hassell III home moments later with a sac fly to provide the winning margin as the Rawhide struck for one run in the bottom of the 10th, but no more.

RHP Jose Geraldo (1-0) went the final 2 2/3 innings for Lake Elsinore, giving up the lead in the bottom of the eighth, but pitching well to close it out and get his first win of the season.

The Rawhide got five strong innings from RHP Brandon Pfaadt who allowed just one hit, a Brandon Valenzuela homerun, while striking out seven with no walks. Pfaadt threw 66 pitches, 49 strikes. 3B A.J. Vukovich (2) and DH Ronny Simon (2) both homered for Visalia.

STOCKTON – 1
MODESTO – 2
Box

Four Modesto pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts and 1B Robert Perez drove home the eventual winning run with a two-out single in the eighth inning as Modesto won it’s third straight game, 2-1 over Stockton. RHP Taylor Dollard made his professional debut and went four shutout innings allowing  just two hits and no walks while striking out 10. Dollard struck out eight straight Ports batters in one stretch.

Leon Hunter (1-0) went an inning and a third for the win while Garret Acton (0-1) took the loss for Stockton. Nolan Hoffman pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his second save.

Stockton’s Tyler Soderstrom went 2-for-3 with a double while walking twice. Soderstrom is the Oakland A’s top prospect per MLB Pipeline.

FRESNO – 4
SAN JOSE – 9
Box

The Giants got four first-inning runs and raced out to a 7-0 lead after four innings while LHP Nick Swiney dazzled in his pro debut as San Jose notched its first win of the season. Luis Matos and Harrison Freed had three hits apiece and Armani Smith had a triple and four RBI for the Giants.

Swiney threw four shutout innings, allowing a hit and two walks while striking out six. RHP Justin Crump (1-0)  went 1 1/3 scoreless in relief to earn his first win. Crump didn’t allow a hit and struck out four batters while issuing two walks.

The Grizzlies got a pair of singles from leadoff man Isaac Collins while Bladimir Restituyo drove in two runs.

 

 

 

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STORM, QUAKES, GRIZZLIES MOVE TO 2-0

Posted on May 6, 2021 by | Comments Off on STORM, QUAKES, GRIZZLIES MOVE TO 2-0

The Lake Elsinore Storm had another big offensive night in Visalia on Wednesday as they slugged their way to an 11-5 win over the Rawhide. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes kept pace in the South division and the Rancho Fresno Grizzlies also moved to 2-0 to take over the top spot in the North.

SCOREBOARD:

LAKE ELSINORE – 11
VISALIA – 5
Box

FRESNO – 10
SAN JOSE – 4
Box

STOCKTON – 8
MODESTO – 3
Box

RANCHO  CUCAMONGA – 12
INLAND EMPIRE – 6
Box

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GRIZZLIES OPEN LOW-A WEST PLAY WITH A WIN

Posted on May 4, 2021 by | Comments Off on GRIZZLIES OPEN LOW-A WEST PLAY WITH A WIN

The Fresno Grizzlies splashed down in the Low-A West with a 5-3 road win over the San Jose Giants as minor league baseball returned for the first time since 2019. Lefty Breiling Eusebio went five innings for the win while Ezequiel Tovar rapped three hits including two doubles.

SCOREBOARD

FRESNO – 5
SAN JOSE – 3
Box

LAKE ELSINORE – 8
VISALIA  – 7
Box
Storm go ahead to stay in the top of the 8th on a two-run homer by Matthew Acosta 

MODESTO – 3
STOCKTON – 0
Box
Five Nuts pitchers combine for the shutout and Matt Sheffler blasts a two-run homer

RANCHO  CUCAMONGA – 3
INLAND EMPIRE – 1, Bottom 9
Box
Five Quakes pitchers hold the 66ers to one run on four hits

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OPENING DAY 2021

Posted on April 30, 2021 by | Comments Off on OPENING DAY 2021

Graphic: MiLB.com

Tuesday is the day, an Opening Day like no other. What was called the California League will shake off a one-year hiatus and get back to business as the Low-A West following MLB’s takeover/shakeup of MiLB. It’s still an eight-team league but things are quite different.

The Lancaster Jethawks are no more, victims of MLBs decision to trim 40 teams and drop down to 120 total. In their place are the Fresno Grizzlies, now a Colorado Rockies affiliate, who had been in AAA since the team’s inception in 1998.

And the Grizzlies aren’t alone in dropping levels as the league as a whole has been moved from the old Hi-A to the new Low-A West.

There are some new experimental rules in play for the 2021 season, with Low-A West being the testing ground for limiting the number of times a pitcher can step off the rubber or try a pickoff to two per plate appearance. That’s right, two. I’m curious to see how this plays out. There will also be a timer for limiting time between pitches, innings and pitching changes.

These are all things we’ll have to get used to and we certainly will. The ballpark experience is going to be a little different at the start with teams limiting the number of fans and other pandemic-conscious precautions in place.

But professional baseball is back in the ballparks and in the communities, just a few days from now, and the fans are ready. The Visalia Rawhide held a season ticket pickup event this past Monday and  drew a large crowd of enthusiastic fans. The rest of the league’s cities undoubtedly have this same energy as the season approaches and teams prepare to take the field for the first time since 2019.

Speaking of the Rawhide, they appear to have the title of Reigning California League Champions for eternity.

So, here we are. No more trips to The Hangar in Lancaster but the Grizzlies will join the fray and, while they will have several rivals close to home, the Low-A West folks will have a chance to get a taste of some of their genius marketing events.

The rosters are being released and on Tuesday it’s go time. I’m in Visalia for their first series against Lake Elsinore, not all six games but I’ll hit a few. Then the following week the Rawhide are in Fresno so I’ll be on board for some of that series. Then I’ll be looking to head out into the great wide-open of the Low-A West. I’ll wear a mask, I’ll wear a space suit, I’ll sit on top of the light tower, whatever the rules are, I’ll be in a minor league ballpark this week. It’s time.

 

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THE NEW CAL LEAGUE

Posted on December 9, 2020 by | Comments Off on THE NEW CAL LEAGUE

After a season that didn’t happen and an endless stream of rumors, the California League has finally gotten some official news regarding 2021 and beyond. MLB, having completed its process of evaluating all things minor league, sent out invites to 119 clubs today for major league affiliation. Here’s the bottom line:

Seven of the existing eight Cal League cities will keep their major league affiliation well into the future. The eighth club was ultimately revealed to be the Fresno Grizzlies, who will replace Lancaster as the Rockies’ affiliate.

And the entire bunch will move from advanced-A ball to lo-A.

There’s a lot to digest here. Looking at last year’s North division, Modesto (Mariners), San Jose (Giants), Stockton (A’s) and Visalia (Diamondbacks) are all intact. The South division, Lake Elsinore (Padres), Inland Empire (Angels) and Rancho Cucamonga (Dodgers) return with Lancaster no longer in the league.

With Fresno becoming the Rockies’ lo-A affiliate, there is a question of divisional alignment as Fresno clearly fits in the North but the South only has three remaining teams. With the seismic shifting that has gone on between MLB and MiLB this past year, today’s outcome makes the alignment issue rather insignificant.

The California League itself survived this shakeup quite well, aside from the devastating loss in Lancaster. Dropping from advanced-A to lo-A isn’t ideal, but it’s not the type of demotion Fresno is coping with.

The Grizzlies, for that  matter, didn’t take the demotion lying down. But with their affiliation with the Nationals over with and amidst MLB’s heavy-handed move to remake the MLB-MiLB relationship, they came out of this ok. Not  what they were hoping for, but ok.

On the  plus side for Fresno is the immediate regional rivalries, specifically with Visalia. The Rawhide are the closest team, about a 45-minute drive away, and the Grizzlies share Highway 99 with the Modesto Nuts and the Stockton Ports. A ton of people in the greater Fresno area make these drives from time to time already and they now have one more reason to make a reasonable road trip.

The travel for the team itself will no longer send them to the far-flung cities and states of the Pacific Coast League. I would expect that to be easier on the players and definitely easier on the  team employee who has to plan all that travel. The games are all in the same time zone now so it’s easier for fans to hear road games online or on the radio.

The  drop down multiple rungs of the ladder? Fresno is justified to be unhappy about that. But if it was a choice between  lo-A ball and unaffiliated or no baseball at all (it was), lo-A is going to work just fine. Is the team rooted in the community? Did the locals show up at the park regularly, and not just when an MLBer or top-ranked prospect was playing here? If the answers are yes, then the team will do well in the California League.

And the top-ranked prospects are still coming. Anyone who follows the draft will be happy to see the Nolan Arenado’s of the Rockies’ minor league world come through Fresno just as Arenado himself went through Modesto when they were a Rockies affiliate. Not all of them make every stop on the way up but there will be plenty.

All in all, today was a day to exhale. Not for Lancaster, of course. Here’s hoping they find another team such as one in the wooden bat league that MLB is launching. But the eight-team California League marches on, largely intact. No more wondering, hoping or dreading. We’ve still got all MLB West division teams as parent clubs, we still have the Dodgers-Giants rivalry with Rancho and San  Jose and now we have Visalia-Fresno. Collectively, for everyone who loves the California League, it could have been a whole lot worse. Roll with us Grizzlies, you’re gonna like it here.

 

 

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