Fresno takes 2-0 series lead over El Paso
FRESNO, Calif. - Nolan Fontana had not homered at Chukchansi Park since April 10th, but that changed Thursday night when he cranked an 0-1 offering from El Paso righty Chris Smith into the right field seats to put the Fresno Grizzlies ahead and on their way to a 5-4 victory in Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League Pacific Conference Finals. The win puts them ahead 2 games to 0 in the best-of-five series, which shifts to El Paso on Friday for Game 3 of the series. A victory in that game would place the Grizzlies in the PCL Championship for the first time in their 18-year history. First pitch on Friday is at 6:05 PM PT time and the action can be heard locally in Fresno on 1430-AM KYNO.
El Paso struck first in Game 2 with two runs in the second. Rymer Liriano led off the inning with a double and scored on a single from Jason Hagerty. After a Will Middlebrooks fly out, Casey McElroy banged an RBI double off the bottom of the right field wall to make it 2-0 Chihuahuas. But then Fresno starter Asher Wojciechowski took over, retiring 11 of the next 13 batters he faced and didn't allow a runner past first base for the remainder of his 6.0 IP outing.
In the meantime, the Grizzlies offense awakened in the bottom of the third when they rattled off four straight hits and saw the tying runs cross the plate on a two-run soft liner into right-center off the bat of Tyler White. El Paso pitching coach and former Fresno Grizzlies pitcher Bronswell Patrick walked out to the mound and huddled with the Smith and Hagerty battery prior to the hit, but White proved too tough of a matchup as he battled by fouling off a few two-strike pitches before singling in the two runs.
The momentum carried over to the next inning when Robbie Grossman led the inning off with a single, advanced to second on a sac bunt by Andrew Aplin, and scored on the two-run blast by Fontana.
Chihuahuas' Will Middlebrooks and Hunter Renfroe attempted to bring the visitors back in the late innings with solo homers, but reliever James Hoyt erased those chances with a four-out save. The lanky right-hander entered the game with two outs in the eighth to face Cody Decker with two runners on. Decker, who failed twice to drive in runs with runners aboard in Game 1, stared at strike three on the outside corner to end the eighth. Hoyt returned for the ninth and struck out the first two batters before getting Casey McElroy to bounce out to second to end the game.
Game 3 Fresno starter Mark Appel traveled to El Paso earlier in the day on Thursday to rest up for the Friday night start. He's no stranger to making a start with something on the line this season. In late August, his winning outing against the Iowa Cubs clinched the first division championship for the Grizzlies in 17 years. He'll take the mound at Southwest University Park trying to help the Grizzlies secure a series sweep of El Paso and a spot in the Pacific Coast League Championship Series. First pitch for the game is at 6:05 PM PT and can be heard on 1430-AM KYNO in Fresno or streamed around the country via MiLB.tv (subscribers only).
WORTH NOTING
Outfielder Alex Presley went 2-4 with a double and RBI and is now 6-9 with three doubles, two RBI and a run scored over the first two games of the series against El Paso.
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