Grizzles return home, gain a game on Tacoma with 8-4 win over Iowa

With the Pacific Northern Division pennant race spread across multiple time zones this weekend, Memphis was putting the finishing touches on a 3-1 win over Tacoma in the early stages of the Grizzlies' series opener with the Iowa Cubs Friday night at Chukchansi Park. That set the stage for Fresno to shave Tacoma's division lead to three games with 24 to play. A perfect night for Andrew Aplin with three extra-base hits and 3 RBI, and no-doubt homers by Chan Jong Moon and Derek Fisher in an 8-4 win inched the Grizz closer to consecutive playoff berths for the first time in their 19-season history.

The Grizzlies wasted no time taking advantage of the early result in Tennessee, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Max Stassi (2-for-3) and Jon Singleton led off with a single and walk respectively, before Andrew Aplin (3-for-3) roped a one-out double off the wall in right field, scoring Stassi. It was 2-0 Fresno after Singleton sprinted home on a wild pitch. A Nolan Fontana RBI fielder's choice finished the scoring in an eight-batter second inning for the Grizzlies.  

A Kristopher Negron RBI single put the I-Cubs on the board in the fourth, cutting the Grizz lead to 3-1. Still leading 3-1 in the sixth, Stassi reached with a single, and Tyler Heineman (DH) walked. With two out, Aplin stroked his third extra-base hit of the night, a triple into the right field corner. Both runners scored to extend the Fresno lead to 5-1. Aplin also doubled in the fourth, to go with his run-scoring double in the second. Friday was Aplin's fourth three-hit game this season.  

Grizzlies' starter Cesar Valdez (11-1) scattered nine hits in six innings, but never allowed a big blow. Striking out six, he ended three separate innings with a strikeout, and stranded at least one runner on base his final five innings, stranding two runners four times. The run allowed was earned, and Valdez did not walk a batter throwing 90 pitches (60 strikes). 

Iowa starter Brian Matusz (0-1), the veteran of eight Major League seasons including this year and the fourth overall pick by the Orioles in the 2008 draft, went just three innings after accepting his assignment to Triple-A from Chicago. He allowed three earned runs on three hits, with three strikeouts and a walk.

The I-Cubs pulled within three in the seventh on a Tim Federowicz sac fly. After a rough start to the inning with a pair of walks, reliever Reymin Guduan bounced back to strikeout two to end the frame. The Cubs' momentum wouldn't last long; the Grizzlies mashed their way to three-run bottom of the seventh with homers from Moon and Fisher. Moon (2-for-3) lifted a solo shot to left to lead the half-inning, his first, and was followed by a single from Colin Moran. Fisher then blasted his second Triple-A homer in his fifth game with Fresno and his home debut at Chukchansi Park. The two-run shot was crushed to center and caromed off the batter's eye, delighting the already raucous crowd of 9,862.

Federowicz (2-for-4) hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, his fifth, for the final scoring play of the night. The Iowa catcher drove in three of his club's four runs. Andrew Aplin reached base in all four of his plate appearances, walking in his final trip. The Fresno relief trio of Guduan (2 K), Aaron West (2 K) and Albert Minnis (K) each tossed an inning, combining for five strikeouts, giving the Grizzlies 11 punchouts as a staff. With his 11th win, Cesar Valdez pulled into a tie for third in the PCL, one win behind teammate Brady Rodgers who is alone in second (12-3).  

Fresno (66-53-1) improved to a season-high 13 games over .500 for the fourth time since August 4. The Grizzlies also improved to 21-10 in series openers this season, and are 49-18 (.731) in the first game of a series the last two seasons under Manager Tony DeFrancesco as a Houston Astros affiliate.  

The Grizzlies will go back to work on Tacoma's three-game division lead Saturday night in the second of four games against the I-Cubs, continuing this eight-game homestand. Iowa will send lefty Rob Zastryzny (6-3, 4.03) to the mound, opposite Fresno right-hander Edison Frias (1-1, 8.22). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.