Ports Earn First Win of Season over Grizzlies in 6-5 Fashion
FRESNO, Ca. – They didn’t make it easy, but they got the job done. The Stockton Ports (16-26) used early offense and a great start from Luke Anderson to secure a 6-5 win over the Fresno Grizzlies (27-15) in game three of their six-game series, the first win for the
FRESNO, Ca. – They didn’t make it easy, but they got the job done. The Stockton Ports (16-26) used early offense and a great start from Luke Anderson to secure a 6-5 win over the Fresno Grizzlies (27-15) in game three of their six-game series, the first win for the Ports over the Grizzlies since September 2, 2021, snapping a 14-game losing streak.
The Ports got the bats going in the bottom of the second inning thanks to the bottom part of their order, as Junior Perez got a one-out single to start the rally. He stole second, and then a few pitches later, T.J. Schofield-Sam brought him home on an RBI single, giving the Ports the lead. Robert Puason followed with the third-consecutive hit of the inning for Stockton, but a strikeout brought up Pedro Pineda with two outs.
Looking like the inning might stall, Pineda proved otherwise. He sent a flyball out towards the low wall in right field and just barely snuck it over for an opposite-field, three-run home run to make it 4-0 in the second inning. It is the second home run in as many nights for Pineda, who now has four extra-base hits in the first three games of this series.
The Ports added on a run in the fourth inning thanks to another RBI hit from Schofield-Sam, this time an RBI-double, making it 5-2 Stockton at the time. They added an insurance run in the eighth with a two-out triple from Perez to make it 6-3.
Luke Anderson (2-2) was missing bats all night long for the Ports, limiting the Grizzlies to just a bunt single through 5.1 innings. He did allow a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, though both runs were unearned. Anderson walked six and struck out three, upping his walk total to 13 across his last two starts (11 innings), but despite that, he has not allowed an earned run during that stretch.
Things began to get dicey in the bottom of the ninth, with the Ports up by three and their closer Hunter Breault on the mound. Breault allowed a leadoff single, and then a one-out walk to bring the tying run up to the plate. Braiden Ward then lined a double to right-center field to make it 6-4 and put the tying run in scoring position. A groundout made it 6-5, and put Ward on third base with two outs and Hunter Goodman at the plate. Power on power, Goodman smashed a 100 mph line drive off the glove of Breault that deflected to Jalen Greer at second, who charged and threw to first to beat Goodman by a step to end the ballgame and secure the win for Stockton.
Perez and Schofield-Sam had multi-hit nights for the Ports, while Pineda (3) and Schofield-Sam (2) were Ports who drove in multiple runs. Ward was a leading performer for the Grizzlies, reaching base all five times, stealing two bases, and driving in a run. Ports pitching held the Grizzlies to just six hits in the game.
The series continues on Friday night at 6:50 pm as the Ports look to even the series against Fresno with Kyle Virbitsky (2-2, 7.01 ERA) taking the mound against Brayan Castillo (0-3, 6.10 ERA).