Nick Kurtz Keys Ports Past Grizzlies

BOX SCORE

A rehabbing Major Leaguer broke up the pitcher’s duel and powered the hosts to a 5-1 final score as the Fresno Grizzlies (25-31) fell to the Stockton Ports (27-29) Saturday night at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton.

Athletics’ first basemen Nick Kurtz hit leadoff for the Ports on a rehab assignment and delivered two key hits to provide enough offense for Stockton, who were otherwise shutdown by the Grizzlies pitching staff.

After the Grizzlies went quietly in the first, starter Everett Catlett worked around a leadoff walk to the rehabbing Kurtz, inducing three soft pop ups to end the inning.

The Grizzlies had leadoff singles in each of the first two innings against Stockton’s starting pitcher Donny Traconis, but the California League leader in ERA, batting average against and WHIP, used a double play in the first and a pair of groundouts in the 2^nd to keep the game scoreless.

Catlett was solid in the bottom of the second, retiring the Ports in order and striking out Myles Naylor to end the inning.

The Grizzlies opened the scoring in the third when Alan Espinal walked and stole second. He advanced to third on a sacrifice fly from Nolan Clifford.

Kelvin Hidalgo doubled over the bag at first to score Espinal and give the Grizzlies the first lead of the game.

But Nick Kurtz blasted a two-run homer to right center, putting Stockton in front 2-1 in the bottom of the third.

The Grizzlies couldn’t add anymore against Traconis, but they put together a pair of two-out rallies in the fourth and fifth before leaving a pair of runners on in each inning.

Catlett worked around a two out rally himself in the fourth and retired the side in order in the fifth.

The Grizzlies continued to put runners on, even against reliever Jose Dicochea, but left runners on in every inning from the 2^ndthrough the 7^th.

Catlett finished his outing with two outs in the 6^th, Felix Ramires relieved by getting a pop out to end the inning.

Ramires retired two of the first four batters in the bottom of the seventh, but Kurtz delivered an RBI single to keep the inning going. The Ports added two more hits after that and made it a three-run inning, stretching the score to 5-1 after 7 innings.

The Grizzlies could not break through against Dicochea, who scattered three hits while striking out six over four innings of relief to seal the win for Traconis and Stockton.

Dicochea earned his first save of the season.

Fresno put runners on base in eight of nine innings but hit just 1-8 with runners in scoring position, delivering the early lead on Hidalgo’s double, and left nine on base.

Kurtz delivered the big hit in the bottom of the third to put Stockton in front and provided the insurance run with the two-out single in the 7^th.

Otherwise, Catlett more than matched Traconis as he went 5.2 with just the two runs while striking out five.

The series concludes on Sunday as the Grizzlies will turn back to Bryan Mena (2-4, 6.75), who delivered a strong start in Tuesday’s win, against Stockton’s Sam Stuhr (1-2, 7.16) with first pitch scheduled for 2:09pm at Banner Island Ballpark.

All broadcasts will be available streamed through Bally Sports Live, the MiLB App, and the Grizzlies broadcast with Tim Slack can be accessed on fresnogrizzlies.com/watch.

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The Fresno Grizzlies are a proud affiliate of the Colorado Rockies organization. During the 2024 season, the Grizzlies held several California League season records, including most attended game and highest overall attendance. The team plays at Chukchansi Park, a year-round venue that hosts numerous special events.