Salty: Bees edge Grizzlies 10-9 in road trip finale

After losing two games to rain in Las Vegas of all places to shorten the season-opening road trip, the Fresno Grizzlies wrapped their first week as defending Triple-A National Champions at 3-3, as they dropped a back and forth affair 10-9 to the Salt Lake Bees Thursday night. 

For the fifth time in six games to begin the season, the Fresno Grizzlies scored first on Thursday night at Salt Lake. For the fourth time already, the Grizzlies scored in the first inning.

With one out in the first, Danny Worth (2-for-5) wasted no time extending his team-high hit streak to six games with a double. A batter later A.J. Reed (3-for-5) homered to left field, the first round-tripper in Triple-A for last season's overall Minor League Baseball home run leader (34 between High-A Lancaster & Double-A Corpus Christi.) 

The Bees quickly stung back, with a leadoff homer to left from Rafael Ortega in the first, and four runs in the second to take a 5-2 lead. Kyle Kubitza hit a bases-loaded triple to the warning track in center to score three, then he scored on an Ortega sac fly. 

The quick-strike Fresno offense was back on display in the third however, when Reed singled with two outs and was followed by walks from Matt Duffy and Jon Singleton to load the bases. Colin Moran then homered to left to make it 6-5 Fresno, the second Grizzlies grand slam in as many games after Worth hit one as well in Wednesday's 6-0 win. Moran is on a five-game hit streak, a game behind Worth. The blast was also Moran's first Triple-A homer.

Again the lead was short-lived, as Salt Lake re-took the lead in the fourth, mostly due to three walks; an RBI walk by Jefry Marte and a RBI fielder's choice by Nick Buss put the Bees back on top 7-6.

Fresno starter Michael Feliz lasted 3.1 innings, allowing six hits, seven runs (all earned) with four walks and four strikeouts. 

A Singleton single and three consecutive walks tied the game 7-7 in the fifth, with Roberto Pena's free pass driving in the run. Salt Lake starter Zach Nuding didn't fare much better, allowing six hits (two homers) and seven earned runs with four walks and two strikeouts in 4.2 innings.  

Two errors, a hit batter, a walk and a single plated three Salt Lake runs in the seventh for a 10-7 lead, the Bees' third and final advantage of the night to seize the contest for good. A two-run Fresno rally in the ninth fell short; singles by Worth and Reed each scored on a liner off Nolan Fontana's bat, before two Grizz runners were stranded in scoring position as Bees right-hander Al Alburquerque converted his second save despite the struggles. Relievers Cam Bedrosian (1-0) and Juan Minaya (0-1) were the pitchers of record.

The Grizzlies now return to Fresno for eight games against familiar opponents Las Vegas and Salt Lake, their opening homestand of the 2016 season as defending Triple-A National Champions. RHP Brad Peacock (0-0, 3.60) is the scheduled starter for the Grizzlies, opposite LHP Andrew Barbosa for the visiting Las Vegas 51s, making his Triple-A debut. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:  Danny Worth's grand slam on Wednesday and Colin Moran's encore Thursday were the first slams in back-to-back games for the Grizzlies since May 13-14 of last season at Albuquerque by Jon Singleton (won 17-6, driving in 10 RBI for the game) and Matt Duffy (lost 9-8.)