Surging Giants Rally Late, Walk-Off In Ninth For Another Win
May 13, 2023 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
A Lake Elsinore passed ball with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning brought home the winning run on Friday night as the Giants posted a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Storm at Excite Ballpark. San Jose overcame a late deficit in the contest scoring single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the game before capitalizing on Lake Elsinore's miscue in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win. The Giants (20-11) have now taken three of the first four games in the series from the Storm and won six out of their last seven overall.
Friday's contest began as a pitching duel between Storm ace Robby Snelling, who entered the game with an 0.86 ERA, and San Jose spot-starter Esmerlin Vinicio. Vinicio tossed four shutout innings in his first start of the season pitching around two singles and three walks. The left-hander didn't record a strikeout, but needed only 47 pitches to get through four frames.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when the Giants broke through against Snelling. With one out, Zach Morgan stepped to the plate and launched a solo home run down the left field line for his first round-tripper of the season.
San Jose extended their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth when Onil Perez singled with two outs, stole second and came home when Tanner O'Tremba greeted new pitcher Ian Koenig with a ringing RBI double to deep left center.
Meanwhile, Miguel Mora had thrown two hitless innings out of the Giants bullpen over the fifth and sixth, but would run into trouble in the top of the seventh. Three walks issued by Mora loaded the bases for Lake Elsinore with only one out. Julio Rodriguez was then summoned from the bullpen and he plunked consecutive hitters on back-to-back pitches to force home a pair of runs tying the game 2-2. Griffin Doersching then came up and lined a two-RBI single into center giving the Storm a 4-2 lead. Lake Elsinore scored four runs in the top of the seventh with only one hit in the inning.
San Jose, however, would respond. The Giants immediately got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Edison Mora smacked a solo homer to left. The home run was Mora's second of the season as San Jose pulled within 4-3.
The Giants then scratched across a run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game. With two outs, Perez singled to start the rally and was promptly replaced by pinch-runner P.J. Hilson at first base. O'Tremba followed with a sharp grounder in the hole that shortstop Rosman Verdugo fielded on a backhand, but threw wildly to second in an attempt to force out Hilson. As the ball rolled down the right field line, Hilson raced into third while O'Tremba took second. Following an intentional walk to Thomas Gavello that loaded the bases, Ramos reached on a broken bat dribbler to third for an infield single as Hilson came home to tie the score 4-4.
After San Jose left the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Will Kempner entered from the bullpen to begin the top of the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to keep the game tied. The Giants then rallied for a run in the bottom of the ninth to secure the walk-off victory. Back-to-back one-out singles from Alexander Suarez and Carter Howell put runners on first and second for San Jose. A passed ball then advanced the runners before Diego Velasquez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Hilson was up next and he struck out on a 1-2 breaking ball, but the pitch glanced off the mitt of Storm catcher Anthony Vilar and rolled to the backstop behind home. The second passed ball of the inning allowed Suarez to easily score from third base sparking a wild walk-off celebration at home plate.
Kempner (1-3) was credited with the win after his perfect top of the ninth. Howell (2-for-5), Perez (2-for-3) and Suarez (2-for-4) had multi-hit games for the Giants. Howell extended his hitting streak to nine games. With the long balls from Morgan (1-for-4, HR, RBI) and Mora (1-for-4, HR, RBI), San Jose has now hit nine home runs over the first four games of the series (after only 10 HR in their previous 27 games this season). The Giants out-hit the Storm 10-3 on Friday. The triumph was San Jose's second walk-off win of the season - both of which have come on the current homestand.
The Giants and Storm continue their series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 5:00 PM. Hayden Birdsong is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
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