Sacramento falls to Fresno in extra innings
On Friday night at Raley Field, Yourkin gave up another first-inning home run to Miller. However, on this night, Fresno rallied back to win 4-3 in 10 innings. Yourkin and Miller played together in the Marlins organization in 2007.
"I think it's just one of those things where you're playing against an old teammate and you want to do well off him," Miller said.
On June 17, Chris Carter had the winning RBI with a dribbler in front of home plate that scored a runner from third.
On July 15, the Grizzlies scored the winning run on a sacrifice bunt by second baseman Brett Pill. Relief pitcher Willie Eyre fielded the ball cleanly, but threw behind covering second baseman Adrian Cardenas. The miscue allowed shortstop Edgar Gonzalez to score from second. Eyre absorbed the loss, falling to 3-5 on the season.
Miller's first inning homer was his 22nd of the season, tops on the club. The center fielder has been on a tear in July, launching seven home runs in his last 10 games.
"It's not something you really try do, you just try to hit base hits and home runs just happen," Miller said.
Sacramento right hander Graham Godfrey, making his second appearance and first start after being recalled from Oakland, did not miss a lot of bats - striking out none. However, Grizzlies hitters didn't miss many gloves either, managing only two hits and two walks in 5.0 innings.
Godfrey earned a no-decision and lowered his ERA from 2.32 to 2.12 in the outing. The right-hander has not allowed a run in 9.0 innings since returning to Sacramento.
Yourkin was equally impressive for the Grizzlies, setting a career high in strikeouts with 10. He allowed eight hits and no walks. His 10 strikeouts pushed him to second in the Pacific Coast League with 95 on the season.
The River Cats added on to Miller's home run in the fourth inning when first baseman Daric Barton hit a lead off single. Right fielder Matt Carson roped a two-out RBI single to left field, plating Barton.
Sacramento scored again in the sixth, thanks to a handful of extra outs given by the Grizzlies defense. Miller led off with a check-swing infield single to second. Barton then grounded out sharply to first and Fresno had Miller in a pickle. Miller managed to outrun the Grizzlies infielders and safely slid headfirst back into first.
With two outs in the inning, catcher Josh Donaldson hit a routine grounder to third that third baseman Conor Gillaspie booted, leaving runners at first and second with two outs.
Carson wasted little time, lining a 1-1 pitch for a double to left field to score Miller.
Godfrey's shutdown outing was unusually spoiled by the River Cats bullpen. Justin Souza came on in the sixth innings and allowed one run on one hit and a strikeout.
Neil Wagner let the Grizzlies tie it up in the seventh, throwing 0.2 innings and giving up two earned runs on four hits.
Right-hander Trystan Magnuson finished the seventh and added stablility for the River Cats, striking out the one batter he faced in the inning.
Magnuson came out again in the eighth inning, allowing only one hit in his 1.1 innings of work while striking out one.
Right-hander Bruce Billings followed Magnuson's lead, throwing a perfect ninth inning, but the River Cats could not add on in the ninth or 10th, going down in order in both innings.
Right-hander Marc Kroon pitched a perfect 10th to earn the save for the Grizzlies, his 15th of the season, good enough for third in the PCL.
Friday was the River Cats' seventh extra-inning game and third at home this season. They are now 4-3 (2-1 at home) when they play extra frames.
Fresno has Sacramento's number this year, winning seven of the Highway 99 rivalry's nine games, including four-of-six at Raley Field.
The River Cats will look to get back in the series at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Raley Field. The Grizzlies throw right-hander Andrew Kown (8-6, 4.15) against River Cats left-hander Josh Outman (5-1, 4.64).