JOLIET – The Gateway Grizzlies gave up four home runs on Thursday night in Joliet, tying a season-worst, and squandered a 2-0 lead in the middle frames in taking a 12-3 loss against the Joliet Slammers, snapping a nine-series win streak that stretched back to late June.
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Neither team scored in the game until the Grizzlies broke the ice in the top of the fifth inning, with Abdiel Diaz coming through with a two-run double to make it 2-0 Gateway, the first time the Grizzlies held a lead of more than one run since Saturday in Schaumburg. That lead would last two batters, as Collin Sullivan (7-5) surrendered a solo home run to Jeissy De La Cruz, his first homer on the year, to make it 2-1. In the next inning, Matthew Warkentin hit his second game-tying homer in as many nights to make it 2-2.
In the seventh, things turned sour. They were initially sweet, as the Grizzlies got ahead 3-2 on a Peter Zimmermann RBI single to right field off Frank Plesac (3-0). But in the bottom half, Sullivan alternated free bases and strikeouts, and was one strike away from ending the inning against the nine-hole hitter in Brandon Heidal, but walked him on the ninth pitch of his at-bat. The right-hander then gave up a go-ahead grand slam to Liam McArthur, just his third home run of the season, to make it 6-3 Joliet.
Things would fall apart in the eighth, as the Slammers used a pair of Gateway errors to bat around and score six runs to put the game out of reach against Nathanial Tate and account for the final 12-3 score, including yet another home run by Victor Nova, a two-run blast and just his fifth of the season.
Gateway will look to rebound when they head home to take on the Evansville Otters tomorrow night, Friday, August 9, opening up a six-game home stand. Lukas Veinbergs will start the series opener at Grizzlies Ballpark against Zach Smith of the Otters, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
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