SAKURAI, BROWN HOMER BUT GATEWAY DROPS OPENER
O'FALLON, Mo. — The Gateway Grizzlies (24-56) went out to a 6-2 lead after four and a half innings on the strength of home runs from Brent Sakurai and Blake Brown on Tuesday night, but the River City Rascals (44-37) surged back to score the game's final nine runs and win 11-6.
After the Rascals took a 2-0 lead, Brent Sakurai sent a grand slam over the fence in right-center field to put Gateway on top. It was the rookie's first professional home run.
Brown followed in the fifth inning, driving a two-run homer to nearly the exact same spot to extend the Grizzlies' lead to 6-2. Brown is now tied for second in the Frontier League with 15 home runs, and his 61 RBIs rank third.
River City turned on the power in the bottom of the fifth inning, however, sending 13 batters to the plate. Johnny Morales homered and the Rascals took advantage of five walks in the inning (one intentional).
Alec Kisena (2-4) took the loss for the Grizzlies. He allowed seven runs (all earned) on eight hits while striking out four and walking one.
Gateway takes on River City again Wednesday night in the second of a two-game set at CarShield Field in O'Fallon, Missouri. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on the Grizzlies Media Network.
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ABOUT THE GATEWAY GRIZZLIES: The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team, located a mere 100-yards from I-255 (10 minutes from downtown St. Louis). The Grizzlies offer baseball fans entertainment, the likes of which are difficult to find - affordable, family, fun in the comfortable GCS Credit Union Ballpark with a great view of the St. Louis skyline. For tickets or general information please visit gatewaygrizzlies.com or call 618.337.3000.
ABOUT THE FRONTIER LEAGUE: The Frontier League is celebrating its 25th season as a professional, independent baseball organization. Since its inception, the Frontier League has provided millions of fans to a fun and exciting baseball experience within the American Midwest. Consisting of 12 teams in two divisions and 96 game schedules, the league is recognized for the amount of talented athletes that are picked up by various MLB teams every year.