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The Gateway Grizzlies got yet another outstanding start on the mound on Sunday against the Windy City ThunderBolts from Teague Conrad (7-3), who followed up his complete-game shutout on Tuesday with six more shutout innings, while the bats got going late in an 11-5 win at Ozinga Field, dropping the Grizzlies’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot down to 4.
Gateway’s offense broke through for the game’s first run in the third inning against Buddie Pindel (7-7), with Dale Thomas and Edwin Mateo executing a double-steal for a 1-0 lead. They would expand the lead to 4-0 in the top of the fifth inning, with Mateo reaching on a one-out walk, and going to third base on a single by Jose Alvarez. Thomas then singled to right field to make it 2-0, and Victor Castillo stayed hot with an RBI double in the next at-bat to make it a 3-0 lead. Peter Zimmermann brought in an additional run with a groundout, getting his 50th RBI of the season while increasing the margin to 4-0.
Conrad, meanwhile, dealt again for the Grizzlies, allowing just one hit and two walks in his time on the mound over six innings, striking out seven to eventually earn his seventh win of the season. The rookie right-hander has now pitched 21 straight scoreless innings over his last three starts.
The Grizzlies would add a big insurance inning in the top of the eighth against the ThunderBolts’ bullpen, batting around and scoring seven runs in the frame to take an 11-0 lead, tying their most runs scored in a single frame on the year. The rally featured a two-run homer by D.J. Stewart, a bases-clearing double by Zimmermann, an RBI double by Abdiel Diaz, and a bases-loaded walk by Castillo, which gave the rookie outfielder six RBIs in the series.
Up 11-0 into the bottom of the ninth inning and having shut out the ThunderBolts for the entire series, Windy City would finally score in the frame, and in fact batted around to score five times, but it was too little, too late to change the final result as the Grizzlies recorded their fourth series sweep of the season. In the process, Gateway’s team scoreless inning streak on the mound ended at a whopping 30 innings even.
The Grizzlies will next return home to Sauget, and will open up a series against the Florence Y’alls at Grizzlies Ballpark on Tuesday, August 20. First pitch in the series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT
