Grizzlies Road Trip Complete: Back Home For Six

Hello all!  Well, the Grizzlies road trip didn't go as planned.  Gateway returned home late Sunday night after finishing their six-game road trip 2-4, losing both series to the Traverse City Beach Bums and Rockford RiverHawks.  It was a crazy trip, full of ups and downs. 

In game one of the series at Rockford on Friday, the Grizzlies and RiverHawks played the longest game in Gateway Grizzlies franchise history.  The game lasted 15 innings (5:16) with the Grizzlies coming out ahead on a Landon Hernandez RBI double in the 15th.  The Grizzlies have played 14 innings four times, most recently on August 16, 2009 at Kalamazoo, but never 15 innings.

Mark Brackman was outstanding once again in his start last week.  In his start on Saturday at Rockford, he went the distance, but still took the loss as the Grizzlies fell 2-1.  Brackman is now 3-1 with an ERA just over two. 



Photo courtesy of Paul Baillargeon/ActionImaging.com

The Grizzlies are a little banged up right now with injuries to infielder Chris Sedon (pinky finger on right hand) and Brandon Peters (right wrist).  Neither of those two played in the Rockford series and Sedon has been put on the injured list, effective Monday.  Peters is progressing well and should be able to go soon.

Sandy, UT native Ryan Khoury is tearing the cover off the ball and playing well defensively.  He went 6-for-12 with two homers in the Rockford series.  Khoury has his average up to .329 heading into play on Monday.

The Grizzlies take on the Cornbelters for three and then welcome in the Florence Freedom.  These are six BIG divisional games.  The Grizzlies are currently 12-9 and three games back in the Frontier League West Division (Southern Illinois 15-6).

Finally, here are the pitching matchups for this week's series with Normal.  I'll check back in later this week.  Take care.  Go Grizzlies!!!

   Monday:  RHP Adrian Garza (2-2, 11.12) vs. RHP Tyler Lavigne (1-3, 3.60)
   Tuesday:  RHP B.J. Dail (1-2, 7.63) vs. RHP Bobby Pritchett (2-1, 4.15)
   Wednesday:  RHP Josh Davis (0-0, 9.90) vs. RHP Brett Lester (3-0, 2.67)

Grizzlies Finding Their Stride

I know it has been a little while since I last posted, and for that I do apologize!  It has been a lot of fun lately calling the Grizzlies game with all the winning that is going on.  Entering tonight's game against the Rockford RiverHawks in game two of the three game series, the Grizzlies have won six of seven. 

When talking about this team, the first thing I bring up is the offense.  Right now the Grizzlies have an abundance of guys who are 'tearing it up.'  Logan Parker, Charlie Lisk and Ryan Khoury are doing their usually things while Landon Hernandez and Jeremy Cresswell are making noise as well.  Many would argue that Lando is one of the top hitters in the league right now, and I would certainly agree.  He is locked in and primed for a stellar season.

Photo by Paul Baillargeon/ActionImaging.com

The defense has been great so far and so has the pitching for that matter.  It's still early (13 games in) but everyones worries about the pitching are starting to fade away.  The loss of Aaron Shafer to the Braves certainly hurts, but the starting rotation has been pretty consistent and the bullpen continues to do their job.  There are a lot of new names in the bullpen, but those guys have shown enough so far to make me believe that the bullpen could be one of the team's strengths.

Grizzlies are 8-5 now on the season we head to Michigan on Monday to take on the Beach Bums for three before traveling to Rockford.  After Monday, the Grizzlies aren't off for 21 days.  Here we go, this is going to be a long stretch.  I'll try to post on the road next week.  Take care and Go Grizzlies!!!