Ramos' Walk-Off Home Run Vaults Giants into First Place
July 31, 2019 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
The hottest team in the California League continued to roll on Tuesday night at Excite Ballpark. Heliot Ramos crushed the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning over the fence in deep right center field for a walk-off home run to lift the Giants to a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm. The series-opening triumph was San Jose's fourth win in a row, 10th victory in their last 12 games and moved the Giants (21-18) into a tie for first place with Visalia in the second half North Division race.
San Jose overcame a deficit on three occasions in Tuesday's contest and never enjoyed a lead until Ramos' blast. Here is the video highlight of the game-winning home run:
The series-opener between Giants and Padres affiliates was a back-and-forth game throughout. Lake Elsinore jumped out early against Giants starter Sean Hjelle as Michael Cantu produced a two-out, two-run single in the top of the first inning to give the Storm a 2-0 lead. San Jose though battled back in the bottom of the frame against rehabbing Padres pitcher Garrett Richards. With two outs, Joey Bart lined a single to right before David Villar stepped to the plate and launched a game-tying two-run home run to left center. The homer was Villar's eighth of the year and team-leading 43rd and 44th RBI's.
Lake Elsinore responded with a run of their own in the top of the second to move back in front. Jeisson Rosario walked to start the frame before Olivier Basabe was hit by a pitch. Hjelle induced the next hitter, Esteury Ruiz, to ground into a 4-6-3 double play, but Xavier Edwards followed with a two-out RBI single to put the Storm ahead 3-2.
Once again, the Giants would rally back. In the bottom of the third, Bart reached on an error before walks to Courtney Hawkins and Dalton Combs loaded the bases with two down. A wild pitch then brought home Bart to tie the game 3-3.
The seesaw affair continued with Lake Elsinore reclaiming the lead in the top of the fourth. Rosario doubled with one out before a Basabe infield single put runners on the corners. Ruiz then dropped down a sacrifice bunt and while he was out at first on the play, Rosario managed to score for a 4-3 Storm advantage.
San Jose remained down by a run all the way until the bottom of the seventh. Singles from Manuel Geraldo and Bart put runners at the corners with one out. Villar followed with a slow chopper to shortstop that deflected off the glove of Gabriel Arias for an error. Villar was credited with an RBI on the play as Geraldo came home to tie the score 4-4.
A key defensive play helped reliever Olbis Parra throw a scoreless top of the ninth. Basabe began the inning with a line drive off the left field wall that appeared headed for a leadoff extra-base hit. However, Logan Baldwin played the ball quickly off the fence and threw out Basabe at second on the play for the first out of the inning. Parra then quickly retired the next two hitters to set up Ramos' dramatics in the bottom of the frame.
GIANTS NOTES
Walk-Off Home Run
Ramos' round-tripper was San Jose's first walk-off home run of the season. It was the Giants' sixth walk-off win this year. San Jose's last walk-off home run was Johneshwy Fargas' game-winning grand slam on September 1, 2018 versus Modesto.
Team Leader
Ramos' homer was his 13th of the season, which put him back ahead of Joey Bart (12) for the team lead.
First Place
The Giants moved into a first place tie with the Visalia Rawhide, who lost Tuesday night at Inland Empire. It marks the first time that San Jose has been in the top spot in the North Division during the second half this season. The Giants were five games out of first as recently as July 13 (17 days ago).
Bullpen Excels
A trio of Giants relievers - Rodolfo Martinez (1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 SO), Frank Rubio (1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 SO) and Olbis Parra (1 IP, 0 R, 0 SO) - combined to work four scoreless innings to finish the game with only two hits allowed. Rubio returned to San Jose on Tuesday after a stint with Double-A Richmond. Rubio had fashioned a 0.29 ERA with seven saves for the Giants during the first half to earn California League All-Star honors before a promotion to AA on June 12.
Hot Hitters
Joey Bart went 2-for-4 at the plate on Tuesday and is batting .387 (24-for-62) over his last 14 games. David Villar (1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI) is hitting at a .426 clip (20-for-47) in his last 12 games.
Odds And Ends
Sean Hjelle pitched five innings with four runs (all earned) and seven hits allowed ... He walked two and struck out five during his 86-pitch outing ... Former SJ Giant Franklin Van Gurp pitched out of the bullpen for Lake Elsinore on Tuesday (2/3 IP, 0 R) ... Van Gurp, who pitched for San Jose during the 2018 season, was traded to San Diego earlier this season in exchange for Alex Dickerson ... Pitcher Casey Meisner was transferred to Triple-A Sacramento before the game on Tuesday.
On Deck
The Giants and Storm continue their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 7:00 PM. Aaron Phillips is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
California League Stories from July 31, 2019
- Stockton Ports, Humana to Honor Vietnam Veterans August 1 - Stockton Ports
- Lucroy, Martinez, Morgan Launch Homers in 15-1 Laugher over Rawhide - Inland Empire 66ers
- Ramos' Walk-Off Home Run Vaults Giants into First Place - San Jose Giants
- McKinney Completes Nuts' 5-1 Win - Modesto Nuts
- McKinney's Complete Game Silences Ports - Stockton Ports
- Rancho Belts Four Homers in Win over JetHawks - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Lancaster Comes Up Just Short Tuesday - Lancaster JetHawks
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