The Gateway Grizzlies took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning Sunday that they held until the eighth, but the Windy City ThunderBolts tied the game and later won it, 3-2, in 11 innings at Ozinga Field.
Gateway (31-39) was denied a season-long four-game winning streak for the third different time in 2019.
Two of the Grizzlies’ three losses in would-be fourth straight wins have come against the ThunderBolts (30-42), who have won both by 3-2 final scores on walk-off hits. Dash Winningham hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth June 9 to win the first series finale in Crestwood for Windy City; Tyler Alamo hit a walk-off two-bagger of his own in the last of the 11th inning Sunday.
Gateway has yet to sweep a series in 2019.
Jordan Barrett was fantastic against the ThunderBolts again. He fired 5 2/3 innings and allowed only one hit — an Alamo solo home run in the second inning — while striking out nine and walking only two.
Over three starts against Windy City this year, Barrett has allowed only three earned runs over 18 2/3 innings (1.45 ERA) with 24 strikeouts, but the Grizzlies have lost all three games.
Gateway went hitless through the first 3 1/3 innings before Brent Sakurai doubled and came in to score on a Luke Lowery RBI single to tie the game in the fourth inning. Luis Román gave the Grizzlies a sixth-inning lead with a sacrifice fly that scored Connor Owings, who had tripled to ignite the rally.
After a Grizzlies error in the eighth inning, the ThunderBolts scored an unearned run when Grant Black walked Chase Cockrell on a borderline 3-2 pitch.
Geoff Bramblett (2-3) allowed an unearned run on Alamo’s walk-off double and took the loss in the 11th inning.
