SAUGET, IL- The Gateway Grizzlies hit four home runs and Justin Lilly turned his best start of the year Saturday as the Grizzlies downed visiting Rockford 9-2 in front of 4,596 at GCS Ballpark. The win moves the Grizzlies into a tie for the final wild card spot in the Frontier League. The Grizzlies have now won three straight.
Lilly (7-4) tossed 8.1 innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs on seven hits. He did not walk a batter and he struck out four. He allowed two ninth inning singles before yielding to reliever Zack Gray. Gray faced one hitter-getting a line drive double play to end the game.
The Grizzlies (48-44) trailed 2-1 before a four-run fifth inning gave them the lead for good. With the bases loaded and one out, Charlie Lisk hit a sacrifice fly to the wall in right to tie the score at two. Joseph Scaperotta followed and lined a three-run homer over the lawn in right to put the Grizzlies up 5-2.
Willie Keene and Mike Breyman led off the eighth inning with back-to-back homers to chase Rockford starter Mike McTamney. Lisk tripled off of reliever Shawn Balteff, and Scaperotta followed with is second homer of the night, a two-run shot, to make it 9-4 Grizzlies.
Scaperotta finished the night 2-4 with the two home runs and a game-high five RBIs. Lisk finished 2-3 with a pair of RBIs. Breyman was 1-3 with the home run. He now has a career-high 23 for the year and a franchise-record 81 RBIs.
Rockford (48-44) got single runs in the second, to go up 1-0 and the sixth, to go up 2-1. Both runs scored after errors in the inning.