JOLIET – The Gateway Grizzlies gave up a late 1-0 lead on Wednesday night in Joliet, falling 2-1 in extra innings against the Joliet Slammers at Slammers Stadium, evening up the series at one game apiece.
The Grizzlies had numerous chances to break through with runners on base against Joliet starter Landon Smiddy in the first five innings, but could not take advantage. Double plays erased runners on in the first two innings, and two runners caught stealing in the fourth inning also contributed to the offensive drought in the early stages of the contest.
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Gateway would also strand runners on in scoring position in the third inning and the fifth inning before finally breaking through in the sixth. Jose Alvarez led off with a single before being sacrificed to second base by Edwin Mateo. After a wild pitch by Smiddy- the fourth of five he would throw in the game- moved Alvarez to third base, Abdiel Diaz put Gateway in front 1-0 on a sacrifice fly to left field.
The Grizzlies also had a chance to add on in the seventh inning, but stranded the bases loaded thanks in part to their third double-play ball of the night. Then, in the eighth, Joliet would tie the score on a solo home run by Matthew Warkentin off Alvery De Los Santos with two outs, making the score 1-1.
In the ninth, there was drama on both sides. The Grizzlies got a leadoff walk, but on a ball hit into right field by D.J. Stewart, pinch-runner Gabe Holt was thrown out at second base as part of a scoreless inning. In the bottom of the ninth, the Slammers nearly walked off on a ball hit into right field by Antonio Valdez after back-to-back two-out walks by Matt Hickey, but Cole Brannen cut down Adam Pottinger at home plate to end the frame and send the contest to extra innings.
In the tenth, with the international tiebreaker in effect, Alvarez was able to move the automatic runner to third base with no outs on a bunt, putting the lead run 90 feet away from scoring. But Mateo popped out to the drawn-in Valdez, and after Diaz reached the vacant first base bag on a dropped third strike, Tate Wargo was called out on a questionable strike three for the second out of the inning.
A flyout to right field ended the threat, and in the bottom half of the tenth, after Warkentin moved Valdez to third base on a fly ball to right-center field, Victor Nova hit a ball towards the drawn-in infield that was able to score the lead runner for the Joliet victory.
One Is Enough – Grizzlies Shut Out Slammers
The Gateway Grizzlies managed just one hit in the game on Tuesday night against the Joliet Slammers at Slammers Stadium, but it was an RBI single by Gabe Holt that ended up scoring the only run of a 1-0 shutout victory as the Grizzlies got back in the win column.
A tremendous pitcher’s duel on paper between Deylen Miley (7-3) and Geno Encina (4-3) was proven to be accurate in real life as well. Miley would break first, surrendering the game’s first hit on a Jonathan Sierra single in the fourth inning, but that would be the only run the Grizzlies’ right-hander permitted in six, outstanding shutout frames. He walked three batters and struck out eight in the contest, running his league-leading total up to 124 for the season.
Encina was even better in the early going, retiring the first 11 batters he faced before Peter Zimmermann walked with two outs in the fourth to break up the perfect game. In the sixth inning, Tate Wargo was hit by a pitch, and on the next pitch to Jose Alvarez, Wargo stole second base, and went to third when the ball got away from Joliet catcher Brandon Heidal, putting the lead run 90 feet away from scoring with no outs.
Alvarez could not bring Wargo home, as Encina picked up one of three strikeouts he had on the night, but Holt came up next, and smacked his RBI single up the middle through the drawn-in infield and just past Slammers shortstop Andrew Fernandez to make the score 1-0 Gateway.
After Miley got the shutdown inning in the bottom of the sixth, he departed in favor of Alec Whaley, who proceeded to work around the tying run on base in both the seventh and the eighth innings, tying his career-high with two innings pitched to keep Gateway in front. Then, in the ninth, Leoni De La Cruz came on, and after Victor Nova singled to put the tying run on base, the flamethrowing southpaw struck out both Fernandez and Adam Pottinger to record his ninth save of the season and give the Grizzlies their seventh shutout win as a club this year.
Having suffered just their second loss to the Slammers this season in 11 games, Gateway will look to bounce back in the rubber game of the three-game series on Thursday, August 8, at 6:35 p.m. CT. Collin Sullivan will look to close out the road trip with a win on the mound for Gateway against Joliet’s Brett Sanchez.
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