Tacoma rains on Grizzlies' homer parade

Tacoma, WA (Thursday, August 15) - Despite three solo homers, the Fresno Grizzlies (55-67) were defeated 8-4 by the Tacoma Rainiers (54-68) on Thursday evening at Cheney Stadium, in the opener of Fresno's final road trip of 2019. The Grizzlies will play 11 games away from Chukchansi Park before returning for the final eight-game homestand of the season, beginning August 26.
After Jake Fraley homered for the home side in the first inning, Brandon Snyder tied the game with his team-leading 27^th longball of the season in the fifth. Drew Ward followed with his third dinger since his promotion to Fresno from Double-A Harrisburg, and Fresno led 2-1. Ward's blast marked the sixth time this season the Grizzlies' have hit back-to-back home runs, and the third time Snyder has been involved in doing so. It was 3-1 an inning later when Yadiel Hernandez kept pace in the Grizz homer race, lifting his 26^th.
A two-run Jaycob Brugman homer in the sixth immediately tied the game. Tacoma took the lead an inning later with a pair of runs, including a RBI single from Brugman.
Fresno starter Logan Ondrusek worked a third consecutive quality start, scattering six hits over six innings for three earned runs. The right-hander stuck out four and walked only one. Rainiers' righty Darren McCaughan matched Ondrusek with six innings and three runs, on just the three solo shots.
Ryan Court hit Tacoma's sixth homer, a two-run shot in the eighth to reach eight runs. Consecutive Fresno doubles in the ninth by José Marmolejos and Snyder finished the night's scoring.
Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Washington Nationals)
• Solo HR: RF Brandon Snyder (27), 3B Drew Ward (3), DH Yadiel Hernandez (26)
• RF Brandon Snyder (2-2, 2B, RBI, R, BB)
• RHP Logan Ondrusek (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K)
Top Performers: Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle Mariners)
• DH Jaycob Brugman (3-5, HR, 3 RBI)
• CF Jake Fraley (3-4, solo HR, 2 R)
• RHP Darren McCaughan (6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
Next Game

ON THAT FRES-NOTE: With a 2-for-4 effort, Grizz infielder Carter Kieboom has now reached base in 34 of his last 36 games.
Fresno is hitting .286 as a club this season, a pace that would make for the highest team batting average since the 2007 Grizzlies (San Francisco Giants) also hit .286. 2007 achieved the second-best average in Fresno's 22 seasons of Triple-A baseball; the second Grizzlies team in 1999 hit .294. The 2019 Grizzlies are slugging .482, on pace for a franchise record; the 2017 Grizz (Houston Astros) led the PCL by slugging .473 while leading the league in home runs (200).
Fresno is 13-28 this season when allowing one or more runs in the first inning, and have lost 18 of their last 22 games when surrendering a run in the opening frame. The Grizzlies are 21-20 in 2019 when scoring in the first inning.