SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Fresno Grizzlies scored the final eight runs of the series in order to win the final two games of the series, finishing their longest road trip of the season with an 8-2 win Sunday afternoon against the San Jose Giants at Excite Ballpark.
Despite holding on for the win Saturday night, the Grizzlies defensive miscues to start Sunday with an error at the start of the game forcing starter Ethan Cole to work through early traffic.
Cole would commit an error of his own and San Jose struck for two runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead.
The Grizzlies struggled against Giant’s starter Cody Delvecchio for the first three innings of his outing but broke through in the fourth.
Roldy Brito pinballed a single off Delvecchio that slowed down before second basemen Dario Reynoso for a leadoff single. Luis Mendez singled into center, advancing Brito to second, but Delvecchio retired the next two Grizzlies.
Jack O’Dowd roped a single into right-center to put Fresno on the board but was caught trying to advance to second on the throw, limiting the Grizzlies to just a run in the inning.
Fresno would fully breakthrough in the fifth against the San Jose bullpen. For the second consecutive game, the Grizzlies tagged a rehabbing big leaguer, as Jason Foley immediately was put on the ropes.
Carlos Renzullo ripped a ball into the right field corner, that glanced off the Giants’ first basemen and sped all the way to third to start the inning.
Clayton Gray tied the game at 2-2, serving a single into left field to score Renzullo.
A batter later, Cam Nelson doubled down the right field line to score Gray and put Fresno in front. After a walk to Luis Mendez, Tanner Thach added to his league-leading RBI total with a single to score Nelson.
Derek Bernard extended his on-base streak to 28 games with an RBI single that played Mendez and gave the Grizzlies a four-run inning and a 5-2 lead.
Reliever Brady Parker would make that hold up. The southpaw walked a pair of batters in the fifth before locking in, retiring the side in order during two of his four innings.
Parker delivered his best professional outing, striking out four while taking the Grizzlies into the ninth inning with a lead, only allowing one hit in a dominating performance.
The Grizzlies extended the lead with Parker in the game, scoring single runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th with Nelson’s RBI triple in the 8thdriving in the only earned run of the stretch.
Dylan Crooks finished a dominant week out of the bullpen with his third appearance of the series. He struck out two of the three batters he faced and did not allow a baserunner.
Crooks finished the week retiring all 12 batters he faced over four innings, which included earning the win in Tuesday’s wild comeback, while appearing in three of the four Grizzlies wins.
He secured the win for Parker, his 2nd win of the year, as Fresno pulled into a tie for first place in the North with the defending league-champions.
O’Dowd paced with the offense with a 3-5 performance that included 2 RBI.
Nelson helped power the offense with a 2-5 game that included 2 RBI on a double and a league best 4th triple of the season (five-way tie for 3B in the California League).
Luis Mendez added a two-hit game and scored three times despite entering as a defensive replacement in the 2nd inning. Brito and Jeremy Ciriaco each added multi-hit games for the Grizzlies while scoring a run a piece.
The win gives the Grizzlies the series edge over San Jose with the Giants coming to Chukchansi Park in two-weeks.
It’s also the midpoint of the first half as Fresno concludes its longest road-trip of the season. The Grizzlies will play three of the next four weeks at Chukchansi Park and five of the next six weeks in the Central Valley.
The Grizzlies will open a six-game series at 11:05 am Tuesday morning against the Visalia Rawhide at Chukchansi Park.
Fresno will turn to righty Austin Newton for the Making the Grade game, which will be broadcast on KSEE24 beginning at 11:00am.
ABOUT THE FRESNO GRIZZLIES
The Fresno Grizzlies are a proud affiliate of the Colorado Rockies organization. The club advanced to the California League playoffs in 2025 and continues to post some of Minor League Baseball’s highest attended games. The 2026 season marks the Grizzlies’ 25th year in Downtown Fresno.