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SAUGET, ILL. – The Gateway Grizzlies had a 3-2 lead going to the top of the ninth inning on Sunday evening against the Windy City ThunderBolts, but failed to hold the advantage, then failed to score despite having the winning run at third with one out in the tenth, and followed up by failing to score in Sudden Death to lose the series at Arsenal BG Ballpark, with a final score of 3-3.
Windy City scored all three of their runs on home runs to the short porch in right field. Daryl Ruiz hit the first in the top of the second inning off Brady Fuller, and two innings later, Christian Kuzemka hit one of his own against Claudio Galva to make the score 2-0.
The Grizzlies would respond in the bottom of the fourth. D.J. Stewart led off the inning with a triple, and was balked home after a pitching change by Carsen Plumadore to make it 2-1. Two batters later, Dale Thomas walked and Mark Shallenberger was hit by a pitch. Pavin Parks then hit a ball to first base that got off the glove of Ruiz for an error, allowing Thomas to come home with the tying run.
The Grizzlies would then break the 2-2 tie in the bottom of the seventh when Gabe Holt singled with one out, and was followed through a pitching change by Abdiel Diaz, who walked, and Stewart, whose single loaded the bases. Victor Castillo then hit into a fielder’s choice, avoiding the double play and scoring Holt to make it 3-2 Gateway.
But after a scoreless inning from Matt Hickey in the eighth, with one out in the ninth, Keegan Collett surrendered Ruiz’s second home run of the game to right-center field, suffering his first blown save of the season and tying the score at 3-3.
The game went to the International Tiebreaker in the top of the tenth, and Alec Whaley came on to make his 154th career appearance as a Grizzlie, a new club record. Despite allowing a leadoff base hit in the frame, the veteran wiggled out of the jam with three straight fielder’s choice ground balls, with two runners in a row being thrown out trying to advance home, giving Gateway hope for their first extra-inning home win of the season in the bottom of the frame.
But those hopes were quickly dashed in front of a big crowd. After a successful sacrifice bunt by Castillo moved the winning run to third base with one out, the ThunderBolts intentionally walked both Thomas and Edwin Mateo before Parks hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, sending the game to Sudden Death.
The Grizzlies chose to hit in their home park, and Cole Brannen sacrificed the winning run to second base. After a third intentional walk to Jose Alvarez, however, Holt lined out to shortstop, with Parks caught off of the bag at second to end the game with yet another double play, dropping the Grizzlies to 0-5 in extra innings or sudden death at home, and 1-7 on their current 10-game home stand with their third loss of the set in their opponent’s final turn at-bat.
After an off day tomorrow, the Grizzlies will try and recover when they play host to the Mississippi Mud Monsters on Tuesday, August 5, kicking off a critical stretch of baseball against three teams fighting for a playoff spot at 6:30 p.m. CT at Arsenal BG Ballpark.
Treece Leads Grizzlies to Streak-Busting Win
Gateway veteran pitches another sparkler vs Bolts, losing skid halted at five games
The Gateway Grizzlies received their second-straight fantastic start on the mound from veteran Zac Treece (4-2) this week against the Windy City ThunderBolts on Saturday night, as he threw seven shutout innings in a 9-6 victory at Arsenal BG Ballpark to get his club back in the win column and snap a five-game losing streak.
Gateway got on the board right away against ex-Grizzlie Greg Duncan (2-7) in the bottom of the first inning, as Jose Alvarez was hit by a pitch, stole second base, and went to third on a wild pitch before scoring on an RBI single by Abdiel Diaz to make it 1-0.
It was still 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning as both starters had settled into grooves when Gabe Holt hit a ground ball to first base that Christian Kuzemka mishandled for an error with two outs. That proved to be costly when Diaz launched a two-run home run to deep right field, increasing the Gateway lead to 3-0.
The Grizzlies also kept up the offensive pressure against the ThunderBolts’ bullpen in the sixth and seventh. They plated three runs off Avery Cook in the sixth on a two-run single by Cole Brannen with the bases loaded along with a balk, and used two walks and a hit-by-pitch to scored three more times in the seventh off Ronny Dominguez. In that frame, Dale Thomas drew a walk with the bases loaded, followed by an RBI single from Mark Shallenberger, and a sacrifice fly from Pavin Parks, with the latter’s first RBI as a Grizzlie making the score 9-0.
After Treece set a new season-high with seven innings pitched and continued to hold Windy City off the board, things got hairy in the later innings, as the ThunderBolts scored five times against Alec Whaley in the eighth, including a two-out grand slam by Christian Kuzemka. A leadoff hit batter in the ninth and single against Francis Peguero in the ninth turned into another run to make the score 9-6 on a sacrifice fly by James Dunlap. But Keegan Collett was able to shut the door there, getting a ground ball to the mound from David Maberry to end the game and notch the tenth save of his all-star season.
Skid Reaches Five for Grizzlies
Gateway makes critical errors on bases early, late push not enough in fifth straight loss
The Gateway Grizzlies dropped their fifth straight game on Friday night against the Windy City ThunderBolts by a final score of 7-3 at Arsenal BG Ballpark.
Early in the contest, the Grizzlies beat themselves on the basepaths. In the second inning, after D.J. Stewart singled and Victor Castillo walked, Stewart was picked off by ThunderBolts catcher Zach Beadle, leading to a scoreless inning.
With the same situation and one out in the third inning on a fly ball to right field by Pavin Parks, the Grizzlies tried to advance both runners one base, and Dale Thomas was thrown out at second base. In the bottom of the fourth, after Castillo singled to lead off, he was also thrown out by Beadle on a strikeout by Abdiel Diaz, leading to another scoreless frame.
In the meantime, the ThunderBolts got to Bennett Stice (2-3) for runs in three straight innings, with a three-run homer by Michael Sandle making the score 3-0 in the top of the third. Matthew Lee made it 3-1 in the bottom of the frame with his first pro home run to right field, but a two-out RBI double by Beadle expanded the lead back to three runs, with Sandle hitting another homer in the top of the fifth to make the score 6-1.
After Windy City added their final run to the scoreboard on a two-out RBI double by Grant Thoroman in the seventh inning off Xander Lovin, Gateway had one chance to rally back in the bottom of the eighth. Thomas led off with a solo home run, and two batters later, Stewart doubled down the third base line, followed by a Castillo RBI single to make it 7-3. After a pitching change, with two outs, Cole Brannen reached on an infield single to load the bases, but Mark Shallenberger flew out to left field representing the tying run to end the threat.
