CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Win on Bond's 11th Inning Walk-Off Home Run

Published on June 13, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Brock Bond hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the San Jose Giants to a dramatic 5-3 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Wednesday evening at Municipal Stadium. Bond's first home run of the season was also the first San Jose walk-off homer of the year as the Giants completed their homestand with a 6-1 record.

With the victory, San Jose (41-25) reduced their magic number to clinch the first half North Division title to one. The Giants are four games ahead of the Visalia Rawhide (37-29) with four to play in the first half. San Jose concludes the half with a four-game series in Visalia beginning on Thursday.

Bond (1-for-6, HR, 2 RBI) and Devin Harris (1-for-5, HR, RBI) each homered for the Giants in the victory. Jeff Arnold (2-for-5, 2B, 3B, RBI), Myles Schroder (2-for-5, RBI), Mac Williamson (2-for-4), and Angel Villalona (2-for-4) finished with two hits apiece.

With the score tied 3-3, the first two batters of the bottom of the 11th were retired before Bobby Haney drew a walk. Bond was up next and he hammered a 2-1 pitch from Nuts reliever Nelson Gonzalez over the fence in right for the walk-off home run.

Josh Osich (2-1) was credited with the win out of the San Jose bullpen after tossing two perfect innings in the 10th and 11th. Osich struck out three batters.

Gonzalez (2-4), who entered the game to begin the bottom of the 11th, was saddled with the loss.

Modesto took an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning against Giants starter Clayton Blackburn. With one out, Brian Humphries singled and then stole second base. After Taylor Featherston flied out, Ryan Casteel laced a double into the right field corner to plate Humphries with the first run of the game. Tyler Massey followed with an RBI single to center to make it 2-0.

San Jose cut the Nuts lead in half in the bottom of the second when Harris clubbed a towering solo home run to left center. The home run was Harris' 13th of the season. The Giants then took the lead with two runs in the third inning. Williamson started the rally by drawing a walk before coming home on Arnold's one-out triple into the right center field gap. Schroder followed with an RBI single to center for a 3-2 San Jose advantage.

Meanwhile, Blackburn set down Modesto 1-2-3 in the second, third and fourth innings. The right-hander had retired 10 straight hitters until allowing a leadoff single to Harold Riggins in the top of the fifth. Blackburn escaped trouble in the fifth with three consecutive strikeouts after surrendering back-to-back singles to start the inning. The Nuts though tied the game 3-3 in the top of the sixth when Casteel launched an opposite-field solo home run to right center.

Blackburn finished his night with a season-high seven innings pitched. He allowed three runs (all earned) on seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.

With the game tied, the Giants didn't advance a runner into scoring position in the seventh, eighth or ninth innings. San Jose threatened in the bottom of the 10th as back-to-back singles from Villalona and Williamson put runners on first and second with one out, but Harris struck out and Arnold grounded out to end the inning.

Cody Hall (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) worked a perfect top of the eighth out of the Giants bullpen before pitching around a leadoff single and a one-out walk in the ninth inning. Hall struck out the side in the top of the ninth to keep the game tied.

Notes: The Giants won two out of three games in the series ... Wednesday was San Jose's second walk-off win of the season (home-opener, April 11 vs. Visalia) ... The Giants improved to 2-4 in extra-inning games ... Williamson extended his hitting streak to 11 games ... San Jose out-hit Modesto by an 11-8 margin ... Bond's home run was his first in 104 at-bats this season.

On Deck: The Giants travel to Visalia to begin a four-game series against the Rawhide on Thursday evening. First pitch at Recreation Park is scheduled for 7:00 PM. San Jose needs one victory in the series to clinch the first half North Division title. Jose Casilla (1-1, 3.26 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for the Giants in the series opener while Visalia is expected to counter with Andrew Barbosa (3-3, 4.21 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:30 PM.

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California League Stories from June 13, 2013


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