Grizzlies rumble past Quakes 8-4 behind a trio of longballs

Fresno, CA (Thursday, May 19) – The Fresno Grizzlies (23-13) overpowered the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (20-16) 8-4 Thursday night from Chukchansi Park. With the triumph, Fresno extended their home win streak to five games, a season-long. The Grizzlies also improved to 18-4 when scoring first and 19-6 when blasting a homer.

Fresno’s offense gathered six hits with half of them leaving the yard. All three longballs and six of the seven RBI were collected by the bottom third of the lineup. AJ Lewis (3-run), Braxton Fulford (2-run) and Juan Guerrero (solo) all enjoyed a trip around the bases with each guy picking up a unique statistic.

Lewis’ clout was on his first at-bat since re-joining the Grizzlies. The last time Lewis crushed a dinger was in Fresno’s regular season finale of 2021. Fulford’s wallop was his second of the season and first at Chukchansi Park. Finally, Guerrero belted a bomb in back-to-back affairs, giving him four on the 2022 campaign.

The other two Grizzlies runs were plated in the first inning on a passed ball and sacrifice fly. On the other side, the Quakes boasted their runs on doubles in the fifth. Alex De Jesus notched three RBI while Diego Cartaya supplied the other run.

Fresno starter McCade Brown did not factor in the decision after four and two-thirds innings of work. Brown struck out six and did not walk a batter. Reliever Jarrod Cande (1-1) earned the victory after four scoreless frames. He permitted four hits and fanned five. Rancho Cucamonga lefty Benony Robles (2-2) suffered the loss after two innings of action. The clubs are back to battle tomorrow evening from downtown Fresno.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• DH AJ Lewis (1-2, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB)

• LF Juan Guerrero (1-2, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB)

• C Braxton Fulford (1-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R)

• RHP Jarrod Cande (4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

Top Performers: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• LHP Ben Harris (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

• DH Alex De Jesus (1-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R)

• 1B/2B Luis Diaz (3-4, 2B, R)

• C Diego Cartaya (2-4, 2B, RBI)

On Deck:

Friday, May 20 vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Rancho Cucamonga RHP Ben Casparius (0-2, 3.66) vs. Fresno RHP Brayan Castillo (0-2, 6.00), 6:50 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTES:

The Grizzlies are 4-0 while wearing the black and gold jerseys this season.

Fresno has powered four three-run shots in the series.