EARLY GRIZZLIES LEAD VANISHES IN LOSS
CRESTWOOD, Ill. — Terry McClure singled, stole second, stole third and scored on Brennan Morgan's RBI groundout to give the Gateway Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in the second inning Tuesday night, but the Windy City ThunderBolts answered with two runs in the fifth and won, 2-1, at Standard Bank Stadium.
Gateway (24-33) had nine hits, but only one went for extra bases and the Grizzlies stranded 11 runners — including John Price Jr. at second base and Shane Mardirosian at first to end the game.
Colton Freeman threw two scoreless innings out of the bullpen and Chris Metrick added a scoreless frame of his own, but they could only maintain the Grizzlies' one-run deficit. Taso Stathopoulos (0-2) took the loss. He allowed two runs over five innings and struck out four.
Mardirosian went 4-for-5 with four singles. McClure added a triple in a 2-for-4 night — his first game back since an injury June 27. Brennan Morgan had two singles to go with his RBI groundout.
Windy City (20-34) snapped its three-game losing streak. Tuesday marked only the ThunderBolts' fourth win all season in which they have allowed the first run (4-16).
Braulio Torres-Perez (1-0) earned the win in his ThunderBolts debut. Torres-Perez has dominated the Grizzlies over parts of three seasons in the Frontier League — the prior two years with the Florence Freedom. In five starts against Gateway, Torres-Perez is 5-0 with a 1.29 ERA. He has struck out 27 Grizzlies in 35 innings.
Gateway and Windy City will meet again Wednesday night in game two of their three-game series at Standard Bank Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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 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.