Thank you Growlifornia: Grizzlies season ends with loss to Giants 

San Jose, CA (Friday, September 24) – The Fresno Grizzlies (0-3) 2021 season came to an end with a 7-2 loss to the San Jose Giants (3-0) Friday night from Excite Ballpark. Despite the defeat, Fresno still finished the regular season with the best record in Low-A West (74-41) and made the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

The Grizzlies offense recorded eight singles in the contest with Mateo Gil and AJ Lewis notching two apiece. Robby Martin supplied both RBI in the first, plating Drew Romo and Warming Bernabel. Romo added a walk and stolen base to his final line. Julio Carreras and Zac Veen were the other recipients of base hits for Fresno.

Even with an early deficit, the Giants lineup rallied to score seven unanswered runs. San Jose tallied three runs in the bottom of the first thanks to two RBI singles and a wild pitch. Patrick Bailey and Ghordy Santos provided the RBI hits. In the fifth, Luis Matos made it 4-2 after a sacrifice fly to center. Two frames later, Grant McCray powered a solo shot to right, putting the Giants up by three. McCray finished the evening with a homer, double and three runs scored. In the eighth, San Jose put the icing on the win with a Matos missile to left and Yorlis Rodriguez RBI double.

The run support was enough for four Giants pitchers to wrap up the triumph. Lefty Nick Swiney went four innings, striking out six. Tristan Beck (1-0) followed suit with two and one-third scoreless frames. He earned the decision after fanning a pair of batters. Brooks Crawford took over for Beck, tossing one and two-thirds innings of shutout baseball while Cole Waites locked down the ninth with two punchouts. He caught Cristopher Navarro looking to give the Giants a Low-A West Championship title.

Fresno righty Noah Gotsis (0-1) suffered the setback after one-plus frames of three-run ball. He gave way to Anderson Pilar, who was dominant out of the bullpen. Pilar struck out four over two and one-third innings. Blair Calvo, Tanner Propst and Robinson Hernandez were the last three arms to throw for the Grizzlies in 2021. The quintet of hurlers fanned 12 batters overall.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• RHP Anderson Pilar (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)

• C Drew Romo (1-3, R, BB, SB)

• LF/RF Robby Martin (1-4, 2 RBI)

Top Performers: San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants)

• CF Grant McCray (2-4, HR, 2B, RBI, 3 R, HBP)

• RF Luis Matos (1-2, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB)

• Giants pitching (9.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 K)

On Deck:

Friday, April 8, 2022 vs. Stockton Ports, Stockton TBD vs. Fresno TBD, Time TBD

ON THAT FRES-NOTE:

Thank you Growlifornia for all the support this season. This was a truly special team and we are glad that you got to be apart of it. Can’t wait to see you next season in Downtown Fresno.