Pitching wins it for Fresno Grizzlies - Fresno Bee

The good Brian Burres showed up for the Fresno Grizzlies on Friday night.

So did a healthy Heath Hembree.

Burres pitched six solid innings and Hembree slammed the door in the ninth following Brock Bond's go-ahead RBI single in the eighth as the Grizzlies edged the Las Vegas 51s 5-4 before 7,690 at Chukchansi Park.

Pablo Sandoval hit two solo homers to account for Fresno's first two runs.

The San Francisco Giants' third baseman left the game after six innings and is headed back to the majors, his Triple-A injury-rehabilitation assignment concluded.

Hembree set down the 51s 1-2-3 in the ninth to earn his ninth save since being sidelined six days with strep throat. He lost 8 pounds fighting the illness.

For a pitching staff battling injuries, turnover and recent ineffectiveness, Burres was the perfect tonic.

The 32-year-old lefty has been the model of inconsistency. In six of Burres' previous 12 starts, he allowed two earned runs or fewer. In the other six, he allowed five or more.

"Honestly, I've felt great all year," Burres said. "It's more sticking with your approach and not letting things get to you or changing it up in the middle of an at-bat. I have to keep on myself."

Neither of the two runs that Las Vegas scored off Burres came on hard-hit balls.

Jonathan Diaz drove in the 51s' first run on a broken-bat double that landed just inside the right-field line. The second scored after a close play at second base involving the lumbering Vladimir Guerrero went against the Grizzlies.

Fresno's pitching, a tower of strength while the Grizzlies went 19-6 in April, has tailed off.

In April, Grizzlies starters compiled a 2.89 ERA while the bullpen was at 3.30. When the calendar flipped to May, the starters' ERA rose to 4.70 while the relievers' climbed to 4.68.

Things haven't gotten better in June as the starters began the night with a 4.85 ERA and the bullpen had a 5.24 mark.

There are reasons for this, of course. And injuries and turnover are two of the big ones.

Burres, Eric Hacker and Yusmeiro Petit have been in Fresno's rotation since the start of the season. Hacker and Petit have been the stalwarts; both are among the top six in the Pacific Coast League in ERA.

Travis Blackley, 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA in April, now pitches for the Oakland Athletics. And Andrew Kown, 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA, is out with a forearm strain and expected to miss another 10 to 14 days.

The Grizzlies also are without Matt Yourkin (turf toe), who moved into the rotation when Blackley went to the majors. Yourkin is expected back soon.

"When we get Kown and Yourkin back, it puts people back in positions where they really should be," pitching coach Pat Rice said. "It'll shore up our staff quite a bit."

Added Kown, "It should get back to normal here pretty soon."

The bullpen's struggles have been more subtle. While middle reliever George Kontos (1.71 ERA) and long man Mitch Lively (1.97) have thrived, opposing hitters are batting .364 off Dan Otero and .299 off Jean Machi, the set-up men.

The rest of the bullpen, Scott Munter (7.88 ERA), Wilmin Rodriguez (9.58) and Craig Whitaker (10.13), is struggling.

"We have four guys that we'll go to with the lead, a couple that we'll use when we need early innings and a couple who mop up," Rice said. "Ideally you'd like a little less separation between those groups."