Mother’s Day Miracle as Fresno walks-off Modesto 1-0 on wild pitch

May 12, 2024 – California League (CalL)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release

Fresno, CA – The Fresno Grizzlies/Malmö Oat Milkers (17-15) walked-off on the Modesto Nuts (23-8) 1-0 Sunday afternoon from Chukchansi Park. Fresno enjoyed their first walk-off win of the 2024 season thanks to a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth. For the second consecutive season, the Grizzlies sent a Mother’s Day crowd home happy with a walk-off wild pitch (6-5, May 14, 2023 vs. Visalia). In the past two years, Fresno has won on a walk-off wild pitch four times. The Grizzlies tossed their fifth goose egg of the season, one shy of matching last year’s shutout total. Fresno improved to 2-5 in one-run games, 4-1 on Sundays (first weekend home win) and played their fastest game of the season (1 hour and 58 minutes).

Both teams traded zeroes for eight and a half innings and saw their best opportunity appear in the first frame. Fresno left the bases loaded while Modesto had runners at the corners. In the bottom of the ninth, Andy Perez led the inning off with a single to center. Perez finished the contest with two hits. Jake Snider followed Perez with what should have been a double-play groundball, but a hard slide from the Cuban native sent an errant throw that sailed into the home dugout, awarding Snider second base. After a pair of walks, the Grizzlies had the bases loaded with only one out. On a 1-0 count to Ben McCabe, Nuts reliever Ernie Day chucked a pitch high and inside, which found its way to the backstop. Snider raced home and scored on a bang-bang play at the plate, sending the Fresno dugout into a frenzy. The walk-off victory puts Fresno 6.5 games back of Modesto in the California League North Division standings.

Grizzlies’ starter Jace Kaminska was unbelievable once again, twirling six scoreless innings for the second straight outing. Kaminska allowed three hits and two walks while punching out five, lowering his ERA to 1.52. At one point, Kaminska retired seven batters in a row. Brady Hill tossed a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, pushing his ERA to 0.73. Finally, Jake Madden (1-0) relished the triumph with two scoreless frames, yielding a huge double-play in the ninth. Madden has six consecutive scoreless appearances and dropped his ERA to 1.26. The trio combined for nine strikeouts and that fifth shutout of the season (second started by Kaminska).

Nuts’ righty Tyler Gough dazzled for five scoreless innings, giving up four hits and two walks while whiffing…