Fresno can’t spoil San Jose’s home opener, fall 5-1

San Jose, CA (Tuesday, April 12) – The Fresno Grizzlies (3-1) dropped their first game of the 2022 season, falling 5-1 to the San Jose Giants (3-1) on a cold, Tuesday night from Excite Ballpark. Fresno has lost their last four contests to San Jose dating back to last season’s championship series.

Abdiel Layer pushed the Giants ahead 1-0 when he doubled to deep left in the third. The Grizzlies would knot the game at one in the fourth when Yanquiel Fernandez sprinkled a single to right, scoring Benny Montgomery. The Rockies #3 prospect stole his first base with Fresno prior to scampering home.

San Jose grabbed the advantage back in the bottom of the fourth and would not relinquish it. A wild pitch and Dilan Rosario single tallied two more Giants runs. In the fifth, two returning players, Aeverson Arteaga and Yorlis Rodriguez smoked hits to extend the lead to 5-1.

The four-run advantage was enough for an excellent Giants bullpen to get through a prospect-laden Grizzlies lineup. Mat Olsen (1-0) twirled three sensational innings to earn the win. Hunter Dula and Ian Villers worked through scoreless frames to shut the door. Both starters, Matt Mikulski for San Jose and Cullen Kafka (0-1, loss) for Fresno hurled four innings before giving way to their pens. Zak Baayoun and Sergio Sanchez combined for three punchouts in the defeat.

Adael Amador and Warming Bernabel relished multi-hit evenings for Fresno. On the other side, Adrian Sugastey and Rosario enjoyed two hits in the Giants victory. The clubs are back in action tomorrow night from the South Bay.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• SS Adael Amador (2-3, BB)

• 3B Warming Bernabel (2-4, SB)

• CF Benny Montgomery (1-4, R, SB)

Top Performers: San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants)

• DH Aeverson Arteaga (1-2, RBI, 2 R, BB, HBP, SB)

• 2B Dilan Rosario (2-3, RBI, R, BB, SB)

• RHP Mat Olsen (3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K)

On Deck:

Wednesday, April 13 @ San Jose Giants, Fresno RHP Case Williams (0-0, 0.00) vs. San Jose RHP Eric Silva (0-0, 0.00), 6:30 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTE:

The San Jose Giants coaching staff have a few names that the Central Valley may recognize. Giants pitching coach Dan Runzler was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 9th round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft. He would play for the Grizzlies from 2009-2014, appearing in 144 games. Runzler would then end up pitching in the major leagues for parts of five seasons (Giants 2009-2012, Pirates 2017) before playing overseas and in independent ball. Over 97 big league games, he had a 4-2 record with a 3.89 ERA, 82 strikeouts. 46 walks and 72 hits allowed in 76.1 innings pitched. The other coach and former Grizzlies player fans may remember is Giants hitting coach Travis Ishikawa. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 21st round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Federal Way HS in Washington. He would play eight Major League seasons starting in 2006 and ending in 2015 with time spent in San Francisco (2006, 2008-2010, 2014-2015), Milwaukee (2012), Baltimore (2013), New York AL (2013) and Pittsburgh (2014-15). Ishikawa would also don a Grizzlies uniform in 2008, 2011 and 2014, playing in 175 games. In 2008, Ishikawa would bat .310 with a 1.107 OPS over 48 games, one of the best stretches by any Fresno hitter.