Back-and-Forth Opener Slips Away in Ninth
BOX SCORE FRESNO, Calif. – A back-and-forth series opening battle between two of the California League North's top clubs slipped away from the Fresno Grizzlies in the ninth in an 8-6 loss to the San Jose Giants Tuesday night at Chukchansi Park. The loss did little to change the bigger
FRESNO, Calif. – A back-and-forth series opening battle between two of the California League North's top clubs slipped away from the Fresno Grizzlies in the ninth in an 8-6 loss to the San Jose Giants Tuesday night at Chukchansi Park.
The loss did little to change the bigger picture, with the Grizzlies still inching closer to a potential postseason rematch with the San Jose Giants, with the magic number falling to four.
Fresno looked to make a larger dent in the magic number and jumped all over the Giants in the first.
Ashly Andujar and Landyn Vidourek both walked and Ronny Ugarte's groundout brought Andujar home.
After Jack Natili and Cort MacDonald reached and scored, Juan Martinez capped the rally with a two-run single that made it 4-0 before San Jose had come to bat.
San Jose answered with a three-run third keyed by a solo homer from Angel Guzman and a two-run homer by Lorenzo Meola, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
The Giants tied it at 4-4 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly aided by a pair of Fresno fielding errors.
The Grizzlies and Giants traded zeroes until San Jose scratched across a go-ahead run in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk, but Fresno answered right back in the bottom half.
Martinez delivered again, singling home Ugarte and MacDonald to put the Grizzlies back in front 6-5.
San Jose wouldn't go away, scoring three times in the ninth on a mix of hits and two wild pitches to retake the lead for good at 8-6, and the Grizzlies couldn't answer in the bottom of the inning.
Martinez was the offensive catalyst for Fresno, finishing with four RBIs on two clutch two-out hits, while MacDonald and Ugarte each reached base multiple times and scored.
Sandy Ozuna gave up the third-inning homers but battled through four innings,
Grif Hughes worked four innings of relief in his return to the Grizzlies before Yanzel Correa was tagged with the loss after the decisive ninth.
The Grizzlies remain in second place with a game lead over Stockton, who lost their opener at Visalia, with just five games remaining.
San Jose clinched the second half, after punching their postseason ticket in the first half, and await the second-place finisher of the second half in the North.
Game two of the Grizzlies series with the Giants is Wednesday night at Chukchansi Park beginning at 6:50pm.
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.