Lewis, Fresno saddles up for a grand time in Visalia; lassoes 10-3 dub 

Visalia, CA (Saturday, August 20) – The Fresno Grizzlies (68-45, 27-20) saddled past the Visalia Rawhide (39-74, 19-28) 10-3 Saturday night from Valley Strong Ballpark. With the win, Fresno improved to 34-7 overall against Visalia in the last two seasons, outscoring the Rawhide 289-175. The Grizzlies have won 12 straight against their Highway 99 rivals and moved to 15-2 versus them in 2022. Fresno looks for the series sweep tomorrow evening against Visalia.

The Grizzlies offense tallied 10 runs on 11 hits, six walks and one hit-by-pitch. Eight of the nine Fresno starters recorded a hit with three of them notching multiple rips. Of the 11 hits, seven of them landed for extra-bases. A.J. Lewis led the charge, demolishing a grand slam to deep left field. It was the second straight game that Fresno enjoyed a grand slam and sixth overall on the year. Four of the Grizzlies six grand slams have come against the Rawhide. Lewis supplied a career-high four RBI and relished his third homer of 2022.

Besides Lewis, a couple other Fresno batters had monster games. Braxton Fulford also went deep, a two-run longball in the seventh. It was Fulford’s 11th dinger of the season. Cuba Bess reached base three times, including a two-run single in the fifth. Yorvis Torrealba, Juan Brito, Juan Guerrero, Benny Montgomery and Adael Amador all registered doubles in the triumph. Brito and Montgomery provided RBI hits while Guerrero scored a pair of runs.

Thanks to the run support, righty McCade Brown (4-4) received the victory. Brown tied his career-high with six innings of work. He allowed three runs on four hits while fanning six. Tyler Ras tossed two scoreless frames and Angel Chivilli struck out a pair in the ninth.

On the other side, the Rawhide offense plated three runs on seven hits. In the third, Alvin Guzman spanked a double to right, netting Brett Johnson. Then, Guzman waltzed home on a Josh Day single to left. Visalia finished their scoring in the fifth from a Manuel Pena RBI single, adding Johnson. Starter Dylan Ray twirled three innings of one-run ball. He took a no-decision after whiffing three batters. Liam Norris (1-8) agonized the setback after a rough outing. The clubs conclude their series tomorrow night from Visalia.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• 1B A.J. Lewis (2-5, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R)

• C Braxton Fulford (1-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, HBP)

• 3B Cuba Bess (2-3, 2 RBI, BB, SB)

Top Performers: Visalia Rawhide (Arizona Diamondbacks)

• RF Brett Johnson (1-3, 2B, 2 R, BB, SB)

• CF Alvin Guzman (2-3, 2B, RBI, R)

• 2B Josh Day (1-4, RBI, SB)

On Deck:

Sunday, August 21 @ Visalia Rawhide, Fresno RHP Jarrod Cande (4-4, 4.90) vs. Visalia LHP Brock Jones (0-0, 3.00), 6:00 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTES:

Juan Guerrero extended his hit streak to seven games.

Juan Guerrero, Juan Brito, Braxton Fulford and A.J. Lewis scored two runs apiece. Guerrero and Brito drew two walks each as well.