Pilar, Grizzlies goose egg Giants 8-0 for series triumph Saturday

Fresno, CA (Saturday, July 8) – The Fresno Grizzlies (48-32, 12-2) blanked the San Jose Giants (44-36, 4-10) 8-0 Saturday night from Chukchansi Park, earning a series victory. With the triumph, the Grizzlies improved to 12-2 in the second half, 15-3 in their last 18 games and 25-6 in their last 31 contests. Fresno moved to 7-1 in July and have won six of their last seven versus San Jose. The Grizzlies enjoyed their fourth shutout win of 2023, their first since June 8. Three of the four Fresno shutouts have come on Saturdays.

Grizzlies’ starter Anderson Pilar was unstoppable in his first appearance with the club since 2021. Pilar (1-0, win) dazzled for a career-high five scoreless innings, tying his mark from his only other start with Fresno on August 8, 2021 at Visalia. The righty, who now is 7-0 all-time as a Grizzly, allowed three hits and a trio of walks while fanning six. Three relievers followed Pilar, adding another four strong frames. Braxton Hyde twirled two perfect innings, striking out three. Javier Ramos had a clean eighth in his Fresno debut and Tyler Hoffman punched out a pair in the ninth. The quartet of arms fanned 11 batters in the shutout.

Fresno jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings of play. The Grizzlies scored four runs on six hits in the bottom of the first. Dyan Jorge led off the game with a single and stole a base before waltzing home on a Bryant Betancourt single. Skyler Messinger followed the single with a two-run homer to right field, his third straight game going deep. He tied the season record for the most contests with a bomb in a row by a 2023 Grizzlies batter. It was Messinger’s fourth longball of the series and ninth clout of the year. Jesus Bugarin looped a single, notching Andy Perez, who doubled. The lone run in the second came on a Betancourt double to right, recording Jorge.

The final three runs Fresno mustered were brought home by Bugarin. The center fielder roped a two-RBI single up the middle in the fifth and whacked another RBI single in the seventh. Eight of the 10 Grizzlies batters yielded at least one hit with four of them belting multiple knocks. Betancourt and Jorge relished career-highs with three hits apiece while Bugarin drove in four runs. The Giants scattered five singles with Turner Hill etching two of them. Seth Corry (0-1) took the San Jose loss after permitting five runs. The clubs are back in action tomorrow for the series finale.

Tonight’s article was written by ChatGPT

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• Grizzlies pitching (9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 11 K)
• 1B Bryant Betancourt (3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R)
• CF Jesus Bugarin (3-4, 4 RBI)
• DH Skyler Messinger (1-5, HR, 2 RBI, R)
• SS Dyan Jorge (3-4, 2 R, 2 SB)

Top Performers: San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants)

• CF Turner Hill (2-3, BB)
• SS Diego Velasquez (1-3, BB)
• DH Anthony Rodriguez (1-3, BB)

On Deck:

Sunday, July 9 vs. San Jose Giants, San Jose LHP Hayden Wynja (4-1, 4.11) vs. Fresno RHP Jackson Cox (1-0, 8.33), 5:05 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTE:

The Grizzlies improved to 31-5 when they score first, 23-2 when allowing three runs or less and 32-12 when hitting a homer.