Alvery De Los Santos pitched six shutout innings for the Gateway Grizzlies in Friday night’s win over the Windy City ThunderBolts. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Frontier League | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway Grizzlies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Windy City ThunderBolts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
WP: Alvery De Los Santos (2-1) LP: Michael Barker (3-7)
CRESTWOOD, IL — The Gateway Grizzlies scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning and had four pitchers combine for a seven-hit shutout in what proved to be a 5-0 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts, Friday night at Ozinga Field.
A big crowd of 3,118 watched as both teams remained scoreless through the first five innings, but then saw Gateway’s bats awaken in the top of the sixth. The Grizzlies batted around and used three hits, two walks, and an error to produce the runs that would be the difference in the game.
Cole Brannen drew a bases loaded walk to bring in the first run. Then Jose Alvarez drilled a two-run single that made the score 3-0.
Dale Thomas drove in a run with a groundout and Victor Castillo, who had two hits, lined a single to bring in the final run and give Gateway a lead it would not relinquish.
Starting pitcher Alvery De Los Santos finished a fine night on the mound by getting out of a two-on, two-out jam in the bottom of the sixth by not letting Windy City score.
Overall, De Los Santos (2-1), who was making just his second start of the season, picked up the win after going six innings and allowing no runs on five hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Relievers Alec Whaley, Gage Vailes, and Justin Goosen-Brown each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the night and preserve the Gateway win.
The Grizzlies, who are now 49-32 on the season and are in second place in the Frontier League West Division standings, picked up a game on third place Lake Erie, which lost its game on Friday against first place Washington.
Gateway now holds a four-game lead over the Crushers in the race to see who would host the West Division Wild Card Game on September 3. With just 14 games left in the regular season, Gateway’s magic number of combined wins or Lake Erie losses that would clinch second place is down to 10.
Washington has a seven-game lead over Gateway for first place and its magic number to clinch the division title is seven.
The Grizzlies and ThunderBolts will play Game 2 of their series, Saturday night at Ozinga Field. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m., with ace starter Deylen Miley (7-3) set to go for Gateway and Windy City planning to counter with rookie Will Armbruester (3-6).
UPCOMING GATEWAY GRIZZLIES BASEBALL GAMES
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 17, 2024 (Saturday) | 6:05 pm | Away | Windy City ThunderBolts | Ozinga Field / Crestwood, IL |
| August 18, 2024 (Sunday) | 1:05 pm | Away | Windy City ThunderBolts | Ozinga Field / Crestwood, IL |
| August 20, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Florence Y’alls | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| August 21, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Florence Y’alls | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |
| August 22, 2024 (Thursday) | 6:30 pm | Home | Florence Y’alls | Grizzlies Ballpark / Sauget, IL |