Career Night From Friese Highlights Brewers Victory

In his fifth start as a professional, right-hander Gabe Friese turned in the best outing of his career, helping the Helena Brewers (25-42, 10-19) to a 7-2 victory over the Great Falls Voyagers (31-36, 16-13) on Thursday night at Kindrick Legion Field.
Friese allowed just a single in the first inning and got run support from his offense in the bottom of the frame. Kenny Corey and Tristen Lutz both singled in front of a KJ Harrison walk, loading the bases for Gabriel Garcia. The first baseman singled the opposite way, giving Helena a 1-0 lead. Chad McClanahan followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Lutz to make it 2-0 Helena.
The lone mistake for Friese came in the top of the second. Facing the lead off man Tate Blackman, Friese left a fastball over the plate that the Voyagers second baseman sailed over the left field wall for a solo home run, his fourth of the season, making it 2-1 Brewers. Friese proceeded to sit down the next three Voyagers in order, including a strikeout of Nate Nolan to end the top of the second.
Helena picked up their starter with two more runs in the bottom of the second. Payton Henry doubled to right field to start the frame before Jose Gomez singled, putting men on the corners. Nick Roscetti sacrificed to right field, allowing Henry to race in from third and push Helena's lead to 3-1. Gomez moved to second on a wild pitch from Great Falls starter Chris Comito (2-7) and reached third on a ground out from Corey. Lutz then ripped a single up the middle, bringing in Gomez to give the Brewers a 4-1 cushion.
Friese (3-1) surrendered just one base runner through the next three innings, a one-out base hit to Nolan Brown in the third. The Marietta, Georgia native retired the next eight batters in order with three strikeouts to boot.
Great Falls threatened in the top of the sixth, but Friese got a lift from his defense. Brown and Craig Dedelow both singled to begin the inning, putting two men on with no outs. The righty induced a fly out to center for the first out before getting a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play as Justin Yurchak went down swinging and Brown was thrown out trying to steal third.
The Brewers added a run in the bottom of the sixth with another combination from Henry and Roscetti. Henry doubled to right field to start the inning, his second double of the night, and advanced to third on a ground out by Gomez. With the infield drawn in, Roscetti pounded a ball into the ground that skipped over the head of Voyagers shortstop Max Dutto, scoring Henry to make it 5-1.
Friese came out to start the seventh inning and retired the first batter he faced on a ground out. When J.J. Muno singled, Brewers manager Nestor Corredor made his way out of the dugout and took the ball away from his starter. In total, Friese threw 6.1 innings, allowing just one run on six hits while not walking a batter and striking out a career-high seven. It is the longest outing by a Helena Brewers pitcher this season and the third consecutive quality outing from Friese.
Helena capped their scoring in the bottom of the seventh. With two men on and one out, Feliciano singled to left, plating two runs to make it 7-1. Feliciano extended his hitting streak to 12 games with the base knock.
Reliever Brandon Presley carried the Brewers to the finish line, tossing 2.2 innings and allowing just one unearned run. The lefty did not allow a hit, walked one and struck out four.
Helena finishes their brief two-game series with the Great Falls Voyagers on Friday night at 7:05 PM. The Brewers are scheduled to send RHP Harold Chirino (1-5, 7.22) to the mound against Voyagers LHP Parker Rigler (5-2, 5.25). Tickets can be purchased at the box office, over the phone at (406)-495-0500 or online at helenabrewers.net.