SAUGET, Ill. — Brent Sakurai lined a walk-off single down the left-field line to give the Gateway Grizzlies a 4-3 win and a doubleheader sweep Sunday night over the River City Rascals at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.
Gateway (24-32) snapped a three-game losing streak with back-to-back wins and pulled within seven games of first place in the West Division.
Sakurai extended his hitting streak to six games and provided the Grizzlies’ second walk-off hit of the year — both in the last two weeks. Blake Brown had a walk-off home run July 4 to beat the Windy City ThunderBolts.
Gateway trailed 3-0 going to the bottom of the fourth inning in game two, but scored two in the fourth on a two-run Artemis Kadkhodaian homer and added another run in the sixth when Kadkhodaian scored on a wild pitch to tie it. The game went to extra innings (doubleheaders in the Frontier League are seven-inning games) before Sakurai’s ninth-inning RBI single.
Gateway’s win in the nightcap was only its third this year after facing a deficit following the fifth inning; the Grizzlies are 3-25 in that situation.
The Grizzlies also fell behind in game one; they trailed 2-0 before Shane Mardirosian drove in John Price Jr. with a sacrifice fly in the third to put Gateway on the board. Brennan Morgan, Sakurai and Mardirosian all picked up RBI hits in a three-run fourth inning to give the Grizzlies the lead, then Brown launched his eighth round-tripper of the season — a solo shot — for an insurance run in the Grizzlies’ eventual 5-3 triumph.
Gateway pitchers delivered quality starts in both games of the twin bill. Max MacNabb (6-5) tossed six innings of two-run ball and picked up the win in the opener. He struck out eight to take his season total to 71 punchouts, which ranks third in the Frontier League. Alec Kisena allowed three runs over six innings of work in the nightcap but did not factor in the decision. He fanned seven and ranks second in the Frontier League with 73 strikeouts this year.
Gateway is 15-5 with a starting pitcher’s quality start this season.
Josh Glick (2-2) snared the relief win in game two after he notched his fourth save of the season in game one.
River City (30-24) lost its four-game winning streak with a pair of losses, but the Rascals remain in first place.
Gateway will take Monday off before opening a three-game series at Windy City on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.
