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SALT LAKE CITY — Fresno pitcher Tommy Shirley tossed 6.2 scoreless innings and Max Stassi hit a solo home run to lead the Grizzlies to a 7-1 win over the struggling Salt Lake Bees on Saturday night at Smith's Ballpark.
The loss drops the Bees to 38-42 on the season, third in the Pacific Coast League Pacific Southern Division. Fresno improves to 41-39, third in the Pacific Coast League Northern Division.
Shirley scattered five hits, walked two and struck out four to pick up his seventh win of the season.
Stassi put Fresno on the board first with an opposite field solo shot over the right field to make it 1-0.
Fresno third baseman Colin Moran made it 2-0 in the fourth when he drove in Preston Tucker, who had singled earlier in the inning, with a single to right field.
The Grizzlies tacked on two more in the top of the sixth inning when first baseman Tyler White scored on a throwing error by Bees pitcher Lucas Luetge and a wild pitch that allowed Moran to score.
The Bees tried to make things interesting in the bottom of the seventh. They loaded the bases with nobody out but, similar to Friday night, they couldn't push a run across.
It didn't help that Alex Bregman showed why he is the Astros' No. 1 prospect. Pinch hitter Quentin Berry, who had great speed, hit a ball that is normally a single through the left side. However, Bregman dove to his right, gobbled it up and threw to first just in time to get Berry and end the threat.
Fresno broke the game open in the top of the eighth when it scored three runs, thanks to a two-run double by Stassi, who had three RBIs on the night. Stassi scored one batter later when Tony Kemp got caught in a rundown between first and second to make it 7-1.
Bees first baseman Cal Towey led off the bottom of the eighth with a standup triple and scored one batter later on a Todd Cunningham single to center to cut the deficit to 7-2, but that was all the offense the Bees could muster.
Towey, Cunningham and Ji-Man Choi each had two hits for the Bees, who have lost three straight after sweeping a four-game set from Albuquerque June 25-28.
Right-handed pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who is on a rehab assignment with the Bees, gave up two runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out six in 5.0 innings of work.
Cooled off
After going a combined 9-for-11 with three home runs, two doubles, 11 RBIs and 23 total bases in a 23-3 win on Thursday night, Alex Bregman and Preston Tucker are now 4 for 16 with one home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and nine strikeouts in their last two games against the Bees pitching staff.
Sweep time
The Grizzlies will go for the four-game sweep Sunday when the teams face off at 1:05 p.m. So far in the series, Fresno has outscored Salt Lake 34-5.
Kyle McDonald is an avid sports fan, especially for the Chicago Cubs and the Utah Valley University Wolverines. He is currently a communication major at UVU and will graduate in the spring of 2017. Email him at kyleuvu2014@gmail.com
