LAKE ELSINORE, CA – After six innings that seems to follow the status quo that led Lake Elsinore to lose four of the first five games to Fresno, the Storm turned it around in comeback fashion to steal one away from Grizzlies in a 6-4 win.
The first inning belonged to Fresno the same way it had nearly every other day this week. The Grizzlies began the first with a leadoff walk and a single from Cameron Nelson and Ashly Andujar. Then, Roldy Brito rocked his 19th double of the season to right field to score the game’s first run. Immediately after, Wilder Dalis singled home Andujar and Brito and extended the Fresno lead to 3-0. The inning was capped off with a RBI double from Matt Klein two batters later. It seemed like nothing had changed from the past few days.
From then until the seventh the game went scoreless. For Fresno, LHP Brady Parker delivered another excellent performance. The southpaw pitched six innings and allowed just one hit and struck out eight. In two starts against the Storm this series, Parker gave up one run and struck out 16 in 12 innings. For Lake Elsinore, starter Isaiah Lowe settled in to deliver two more good innings before exiting in the fourth. Lefty Cal Riehl entered and pitched three shutout innings with Daichi Moriki following that up with a scoreless seventh. The Storm were still down 4-0 heading to the home half of the inning.
Parker exited after six and was replaced by right-hander Yanzel Correa. That’s when things started to break in Lake Elsinore’s favor. The first three batters all reached safely thanks to a single from Bradley Frye, a walk from Yoiber Ocopio and a run-scoring double by Dylan Grego. After Truitt Madonna and Qrey Lott both struck out, Yimy Tovar ripped a two-RBI single into left and cut the deficit to just one. Just like that it was 4-3.
Correa exited for the eighth and in came Dylan Crooks, a righty with five saves this season and is no stranger to big spots for the Grizzlies. After a leadoff flyout, Dawson Willis featured a well-placed bunt single down the third base line. Willis was safe at first and advanced to second on an errant throw from Fresno third baseman Dalis. What followed was four more straight singles: Frye, Ocopio, Grego, and George Bilecki. Together, the middle of the Storm lineup plated three runs and took a 6-4 lead into the ninth. After seemingly packing it in through the first 2/3 of the game, Lake Elsinore was just saving its best for last.
The Storm faced four batters in the ninth and got through it rather quickly after a leadoff walk. Lake Elsinore finished a six game series against Fresno in comeback fashion with a 6-4 win and salvaged the set to grab its second win of the week.
Lake Elsinore returns to action on Tuesday to face Stockton for game one of the six-game set. This is the second series of the year between the Storm and the Ports with Stockton winning four of the first six games. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. PT.
About the Lake Elsinore Storm
The Lake Elsinore Storm are the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres in the California League. For more information on the Storm, visit milb.com/lake-elsinore. For information about tickets to any of Lake Elsinore’s 66 home games, call (951) 245-4487 or email: info@stormbaseball.com.