Sports stats



CalL San Jose Giants

Brown's Walk-Off Home Run Caps Thrilling Comeback Win

May 15, 2022 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


Vaun Brown's walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a thrilling come-from-behind 8-7 victory for the San Jose Giants over the Lake Elsinore Storm on Saturday night at Excite Ballpark. Brown also hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh as San Jose rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to earn their fourth consecutive victory. Saturday's triumph marked the Giants' (20-12) largest comeback win of the year and their first walk-off victory this season.

Brown (2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI) has hit a remarkable eight homers over his last nine games played and now leads the California League with 10 home runs overall this season. He's the first San Jose player with a multi-homer game this year.

The Giants fell behind early in game five of the series as Lake Elsinore struck for five runs in the top of the first inning to chase San Jose starter Will Bednar. Bednar issued three walks in the top of the first allowing the Storm to load the bases with two outs. Marcos Castanon then blooped an 0-2 pitch from Bednar into shallow left center for a single plating two runs giving Lake Elsinore the early lead. On the very next pitch, Albert Fabian blasted a fly ball over the fence in straightaway center for a three-run homer and a 5-0 Storm advantage. After the next batter, Victor Duarte, singled, Bednar was pulled from the game with reliever Esmerlin Vinicio recording the final out of the inning.

The Giants though would immediately answer with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Grant McCray led off with a double down the right field line before consecutive walks to Aeverson Arteaga and Brown loaded the bases. Adrian Sugastey then stepped to the plate and laced a double into the left center field gap plating both McCray and Arteaga. Garrett Frechette's sacrifice fly then brought San Jose to within 5-3.

The Storm answered, however, with single tallies in the third and fourth innings to extend their lead to 7-3. In the top of the third, Carlos Luis led off with a double against Vinicio and scored on Castanon's single. An inning later with Seth Lonsway on the mound, Max Ferguson drew a leadoff walk and immediately scored when the next batter, Lucas Dunn, doubled into the left field corner.

Lonsway though would recover to limit the damage in the fourth before setting down the side in order in both the fifth and sixth innings. He fanned one batter in the top of the fifth before registering two more strikeouts in the sixth.

The Giants then hit their first of three homers as Victor Bericoto left the yard in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit in half. Yorlis Rodriguez led off the inning with a single before Bericoto came up with one out and and crushed a two-run homer to left center. The round-tripper was Bericoto's fourth of the season and it trimmed the Lake Elsinore lead to 7-5.

After Lonsway put up another zero in the top of the seventh inducing a key double play with two runners on to end the inning, Brown hit the first of his two homers to bring San Jose all the way back. Following a leadoff walk to Arteaga, Brown belted a 1-1 pitch out to deep left center field for a game-tying two-run homer. The 418-foot blast was Brown's ninth home run of the year and it made the score 7-7.

Evan Gates took over for San Jose to begin the top of the eighth and promptly struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning. The Giants threatened in the bottom of the inning as Abdiel Layer was hit by a pitch to leadoff and stole second before McCray worked a two-out walk, but the potential go-ahead run was stranded when Arteaga grounded out.

Gates returned to the mound in the top of the ninth and fanned two more in another perfect inning to set the stage for Brown, who jumped on the first pitch of the bottom of the inning to spark a wild walk-off celebration.

The Giants celebrate Vaun Brown's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.

GIANTS NOTES

Walk-Off Home Run: Vaun Brown hit the Giants' first walk-off home run since Heliot Ramos accomplished the feat on July 30, 2019 - also against the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Brown's Power Surge: Brown has hit three home runs over the last two games, has eight homers in his last 32 at-bats and is the first player in the California League with double-digit homers this season. The Giants have now homered in 12 consecutive games and are leading the league with 39 home runs overall this season.

Five-Run Comeback: The Giants achieved their largest come-from-behind win of the season - surpassing their four-run comeback in an 8-7 win over Fresno on April 16.

Other Hitting Standouts: Victor Bericoto (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Adrian Sugastey (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI) also finished with multi-hit games for the Giants on Saturday. Both teams had eight hits.

In The 'Pen: The bullpen trio of Esmerlin Vinicio (2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 SO), Seth Lonsway (4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) and Evan Gates (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO) combined to throw the final 8 1/3 innings with only two runs allowed and 12 strikeouts.

First Place: With Saturday's win, the Giants moved into sole possession of first place in the North Division - one game ahead of the Fresno Grizzlies. It's the first time since April 28 that San Jose has been in sole possession of first. The Giants have won eight out of their last 10 games overall.

On Deck: The Giants will look to win five of six games against Lake Elsinore this week when the teams conclude their series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch at Excite Ballpark is set for 1:00 PM. Mason Black is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics



California League Stories from May 15, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central