Perry and ‘pen provide Grizzlies’ battery power in 4-2 punchout of Ports 

Fresno, CA (Saturday, August 24) – The Fresno Grizzlies (24-29, 62-56) powered past the Stockton Ports (17-36, 43-74) 4-2 Saturday night from Chukchansi Park. The Grizzlies improved to 81-32 all-time versus the Ports with a 20-9 record this year. The 20 victories against Stockton are now the second-most wins against an opponent in Grizzlies’ single-season history. The Grizzlies went 26-4 against the Ports in 2022. With a San Jose Giants 14-2 win over Modesto, Fresno still sits seven games back in the California League North Division second half standings with 13 contests left to play (six against one another).

The Grizzlies took a 3-2 series lead over the Ports, with Darius Perry leading the offense. Perry went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and a run. The Grizzlies’ catcher crushed a clout into the clouds to open the scoring in the second. Fresno extended their lead to 4-0 with a three-run bottom of the third. Caleb Hobson smoked a leadoff double, advanced to third on a Braylen Wimmer sacrifice bunt and sauntered home on a Blake Wright sacrifice fly. With two outs, the next four Grizzlies batters reached, three of which on base hits. Felix Tena secured a double, adding Kelvin Hidalgo and Perry pushed home Tena with a single. Overall, eight of the Grizzlies’ batters reached base safely, with seven of them spanking a hit.

The Ports plated both of their runs on sacrifice flies. Dereck Salom swatted his in the fourth, notching Tommy White. In the fifth, Rodney Green recorded Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, the last true scoring threat for Stockton. Ports’ righty Tzu-Chen Sha (2-5) was handed the loss after three innings of work. Sha was tagged for four runs (earned), on seven hits and one walk, while fanning a pair. Yunior Tur and Camilo Hernandez combined for five scoreless frames of relief, striking out five.

Fresno hurler Bryan Perez (5-7) was awarded the triumph after five innings of two-run ball. Perez permitted five hits, two walks and a pair of hit-by-pitches, whiffing five. Jake Madden, Fidel Ulloa and Konner Eaton wrapped up the contest with four shutout frames. Madden and Ulloa both received their third holds, while Eaton locked up his first professional save.

The clubs conclude their six-game series tomorrow evening from Chukchansi Park. Fans can grab their tickets for the seven (7) remaining regular season home games now at FresnoGrizzlies.com.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• C Darius Perry (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R)
• RF Felix Tena (2-4, 2B, RBI, R)
• Grizzlies Bullpen (4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)

Top Performers: Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics)

• 3B Tommy White (2-3, 2B, R, BB)
• Ports Bullpen (5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)
• CF Rodney Green (1-3, RBI)

On Deck:

Sunday, August 25, 2024 at 5:05 pm PT Stockton Ports at Fresno Grizzlies

Stockton RHP Norge Vera (1-1, 3.38) vs. Fresno RHP McCade Brown (0-1, 10.29)

On That Fres-Notes:

Throughout the night, the Grizzlies made numerous defensive web gems. Tevin Tucker was the ringleader of a circus-like catch at second, Jason Hinchman made a sliding catch in left and Fresno turned two double plays.

For the fourth straight game, Fresno loaded the bases in the first. Unfortunately, for the second time, the Grizzlies did not score.

The first three Ports batters of the game worked 3-2 counts, with one being called out on a pitch clock violation and the other two drawing walks.