Albright is Alright! Grizzlies’ lefty dazzles in debut, stops Quakes 7-2 Wednesday 

Fresno, CA (Wednesday, August 2) – The Fresno Grizzlies (60-38, 24-8) conquered the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (54-44, 15-17) 7-2 Wednesday night from Chukchansi Park. Fresno improved to a Minor League-best 24-8 in the second half, 27-9 in their last 36 games and 37-12 in their last 49 contests. The Grizzlies moved to 31-4 when allowing three runs or fewer, 39-7 when scoring first and 37-6 when tallying 10 or more hits. Fresno is now 23-12 against the California League South Division (15-5 at home) and have split the first eight games of the season series with Rancho Cucamonga.

Lefty Mason Albright (10-4, win) was magnificent in his Rockies and Grizzlies debut. After being traded from the Angels last Sunday, Albright left a great first impression on Growlifornia. Albright tossed five scoreless innings, allowing a pair of hits and walks while fanning nine. He struck out the side in the first and did not permit his first hit until one out in the fifth. Albright is now tied for first with 10 wins on the California League leaderboard. Over the last two games of the series, Fresno starters have hurled 11 shutout frames, giving up four hits and walks while striking out 20. Austin Becker, Javier Ramos and Braxton Hyde combined for six punchouts over four innings in the triumph. Becker and Hyde relished spotless outings.

The Grizzlies offense helped Albright with seven runs, including six over the first four frames of play. Fresno plated three runs in the first, one run in the third, two runs in the fourth and one final run in the seventh. Every Grizzlies starter reached base safely with eight of the nine batters collecting at least one hit. Bryant Betancourt laced a double and his first triple of the year, scoring a career-high three times. Skyler Messinger led the charge with three hits and two RBI, which included a double. Jesus Bugarin provided a multi-RBI contest after an early single. Jake Snider yielded his seventh triple of the season and Jesus Ordonez belted a double. Dyan Jorge extended his hit streak to seven games with a single in the fourth.

Quakes’ starter Gabe Emmett (5-5) suffered the loss after three and two-thirds of tough frames. The Rancho Cucamonga lineup mustered four hits and did not record an extra-base hit for their second straight game. Both Quakes’ runs waltzed home in the eighth. Wilman Diaz notched two hits and scored the first run thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Thayron Liranzo. A groundout netted Jose Izarra with the last Rancho Cucamonga run. The clubs are back to battle tomorrow evening from Chukchansi Park.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• LHP Mason Albright (5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K; win in debut)
• DH Bryant Betancourt (2-3, 3B, 2B, 3 R, BB)
• 3B Skyler Messinger (3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R)

Top Performers: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• 2B Wilman Diaz (2-3, R)
• SS Jose Izarra (1-4, R)
• CF Luis Rodriguez (1-4)

On Deck:

Thursday, August 3 vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Rancho Cucamonga RHP Roque Gutierrez (0-1, 4.79) vs. Fresno RHP Connor Staine (7-4, 5.17), 6:50 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTE:

The 2-hole hitter in the Quakes lineup had struck out seven consecutive times over the two games. Last night, Wilman Diaz went 0-for-4 with four punchouts while pinch-hitter Josue De Paula struck out to end the game. De Paula started tonight’s contest with strikeouts in his first two at-bats.