8th Inning Upends Grizzlies in San Jose

BOX SCORE

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Fresno Grizzlies watched a three-run cushion slip away in a decisive eighth inning, falling to the San Jose Giants 6-4 Friday night at Excite Ballpark.

The Grizzlies were strong in the middle innings but had little offense in the beginning and the end of the ballgame, while San Jose surged.

San Jose struck first in the bottom of the first when Josuar Gonzalez tripled to center field and scored one batter later on a Luis Hernández ground-ball single to right, making it 1-0.

Fresno answered in the top of the third, loading the bases on a hit-by-pitch to Aidan Redahan and back-to-back walks to Carlos Renzullo and Ashly Andujar before Cristian Arguelles drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Jordan Gottesman to force in Redahan and tie the game at 1-1.

The Grizzlies took the lead in the fourth when Jack Natili was hit by a pitch, Ryan Niedzwiedz followed with his first professional hit, a double to right, that sent Natili to third, and Juan Martinez reached on a throwing error by third baseman Lorenzo Meola that allowed both Natili and Niedzwiedz to score, putting Fresno ahead 3-1.

San Jose's defense turned the game's biggest sequence in the top of the fifth, with catcher Fernando Gonzalez and pitcher Gottesman combining to throw out Arguelles trying to steal home and erase a Grizzlies threat before it could grow.

Luke Hansel took over for starter Luichi Casilla in the bottom of the fifth, and Fresno extended its lead to 4-1 in the sixth when Natili golfed a Gottesman pitch over the left-field wall for his first career professional home run.

The Giants answered in the bottom half, with Gonzalez walking and stealing second, Hernández driving him in on a single to right that was extended into a triple-base gaffe by a Landyn Vidourek fielding error, and Meola following with a sacrifice fly that trimmed Fresno's lead to 4-3.

The Grizzlies' bullpen came undone in the eighth. Hansel opened the inning by allowing singles to Meola and Jeremiah Jenkins before Manuel Olivares entered in relief.

Fernando Gonzalez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Tanner Mally drew a walk that forced in the tying run.

Angel Guzman struck out for the second out, but Andy Polanco lined a go-ahead single through the left side, and a wild pitch from Olivares allowed another run to score before Broedy Poppell struck out to end the frame, putting San Jose ahead 6-4.

Fresno went down in order in the ninth against reliever R.J. Dabovich to close out the loss.

No Grizzlies hitter recorded more than one hit, with Natili's home run and two runs scored standing out alongside a double from Niedzwiedz and a single apiece from Redahan and Arguelles.

Casilla worked four innings for Fresno, allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts before handing the ball to the bullpen.

Hansel took the loss despite a strong outing for most of the night, after allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits over 3.1 innings.

Hayden Wynja picked up the win with 1.1 hitless innings in relief before Dabovich closed it out for his first save of the season.

Friday's result leaves the California League North's second-half standings knotted in a three-way tie for first place among San Jose, Fresno and Stockton.

The Grizzlies and Giants return to Excite Ballpark this weekend for the final two games of the series.

Saturday, the Grizzlies send Marcos Herrera to the mound looking to pull momentum back into their dugout for a 6:00pm start.

The Grizzlies Broadcast will begin with the Chukchansi Gold Pregame Show at 5:45pm.

ABOUT THE FRESNO GRIZZLIES

The Fresno Grizzlies are a proud affiliate of the Colorado Rockies organization. The club advanced to the California League playoffs in 2025 and continues to post some of Minor League Baseball's highest attended games. The 2026 season marks the Grizzlies' 25th year in Downtown Fresno.