(EDITOR’S NOTE: Helena Brewers Press Release)
OREM, Utah – Some hitters have a knack for making their hits count in the biggest moments, and that has not rung truer than for Pablo Abreu on the current road trip. Having just one hit, a grand slam, in 11 at bats on the road trip entering his plate appearance in the fifth, Abreu once again brought the thunder in a big spot. With the bases loaded, he locked in on an inside pitch and sent it over the left field fence for his second grand slam of the trip, giving Helena a 6-2 lead they never surrendered. The Brewers went on to win 9-5, earning their third win in a row.
Helena used smart base running to draw first blood. In the top of the first, Brice Turang drew a one out walk, and LG Castillo singled him to second. David Fry then hit a deep drive to center that was caught at the wall, but Turang got a great jump tagging up and scored all the way from second.
Orem though tied the game in the bottom of the first, as a one out double from Kevin Maitan scored on a single to center from Nonie Williams. The Owlz then took the lead in the third, as Livan Soto’s leadoff single scored with two out single from Francisco Del Valle.
From there though, the Brewers offense locked in. Bryan Torres tied the game in the fourth with a solo homer, and in the fifth, Helena loaded the bases thanks to singles from Luis Avila and Je’Von Ward, along with a hit by pitch of Fry. That brought up Pablo Abreu, who took a 3-1 pitch from Adalberto Pena and parked it beyond the left field wall for a grand slam, his second in three games, giving the Brewers a 6-2 win. With just two hits in 14 at bats, Abreu has 12 RBI on the road trip.
Joel Pinto earned the win for Helena, allowing just three runs over six innings, striking out three. The Brewers added on two runs in the top of the sixth, and Fry extended his season best hitting streak to 16 games with a solo home run in the ninth. Logan Gillaspie earned the save, as he pitched the final 1.2 out of the bullpen.
Helena looks to extend their winning streak to four tomorrow as they take on the Owlz at 7:05 PM. Joey Matulovich takes the ball for the Brewers, making his first professional start. The Helena Brewers pregame show hits the airwaves of helenabrewers.net at 6:45.
