The Gateway Grizzlies swept their first series of the second half of the season with a 7-3 victory over the Empire State Greys at Grizzlies Ballpark on Sunday night.
It was Gateway who got things started right away against former Grizzlie Andres Rodriguez (1-7), as Peter Zimmermann came up with a man on base and clubbed his 17th home run of the season to left-center, giving the Grizzlies a 2-0 early lead. Joey Gonzalez (6-5) made that lead stand up until the third inning, when Quentin Holmes hit his second homer of the series after a leadoff walk to tie the game at 2-2.
Gonzalez found himself in jams in both the next two innings, but was able to get the critical outs he needed to hold the Greys off the board, and in the bottom of both frames, the Grizzlies would take advantage. With two outs in the fourth, Jairus Richards came up clutch with a go-ahead, two-run single to put the home team ahead to stay at 4-2. Then, in the fifth, after a Clint Freeman sacrifice fly made it 5-2, Abdiel Diaz came up and stroked a two-out RBI double to increase the lead to 6-2.
Gateway would add on to their lead in the seventh inning, as they scored on yet another two-out hit, this one off the bat of Alex Hernandez for a 7-2 lead. The Greys would get back on the board in the ninth, using an error and two infield hits to cut the deficit to four runs at 7-3, but could not get any closer as the Grizzlies improved to a season-high 18 games over the .500 mark at 35-17, and increased their lead over the rest of the West Division to four games entering the next week of action in the Frontier League.
Gonzalez got his third straight win on the mound, pitching into the seventh inning and surrendering only two runs while striking out seven.
The Grizzlies next embark on a six-game road trip to the Northeast, kicking off a three-game series against the New York Boulders on Tuesday, July 18, at 6:00 p.m. CT. Carson LaRue will pitch in the series opener at Clover Stadium as the Grizzlies look to maintain their first-place standing away from home.
Mick Lite served for 12 years in the military and is now an entrepreneur and photographer. Has worked as the official scorer and social media manager for the River City Rascals, Statistician for the Missouri Monsters and St. Louis Attack arena football teams, and as the Team Photographer and social media consultant for the St. Charles Chill, SLU Hockey, St. Louis Slam, and Gateway Grizzlies.
