LOWERY, RAY HOMER IN GRIZZLIES LOSS

SAUGET, Ill. — Luke Lowery blasted his team-leading eighth home run of the season and Anthony Ray chipped in with his first big fly since 2016, but the Gateway Grizzlies lost 6-2 to the Southern Illinois Miners at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.

Gateway (31-42) dropped its fourth straight.

Lowery collected his third home run in the Grizzlies' last five games and took over the outright team lead. He and Dustin Woodcock had been tied with seven dingers apiece. Lowery's homer Wednesday went out to right-center field — more than 380 feet to Lowery's opposite field — in the ninth.

Ray's long ball came in the sixth inning. He had not homered since 2016, when he was a State College (Pa.) Spike in the St. Louis Cardinals' minor-league system. The round-tripper was the third of his career in 302 games.

Southern Illinois (41-33) won its seventh game in a row.

Reign Letkeman (3-3) took the loss. He allowed six runs (five earned) over four-plus innings.

Jason Seever, Dakota Smith, Patrick Boyle, Grant Black, and Geoff Bramblett combined to throw five scoreless innings and allow only three hits out of the Grizzlies' bullpen.

Brent Sakurai had the Grizzlies' first multi-hit game of the series with a pair of singles in a 2-for-4 performance. It was his team-leading 21st multi-hit outing of 2019.

Gateway and Southern Illinois will finish their four-game series Thursday at 7:05 p.m. CDT. Dominic Topoozian (5-4, 3.27) is the Grizzlies' slated starter.

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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 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 10 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.