Villalona's 13th Inning Home Run Forces Game 5
SAN JOSE, CA - Angel Villalona's solo home run in the bottom of the 13th inning propelled the San Jose Giants to a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Visalia Rawhide in Game 4 of the North Division Series on Tuesday night at Municipal Stadium. San Jose's second straight walk-off win evens the best-of-five series at two games apiece.
The winner-take-all Game 5 between the Giants and Rawhide will be played in Visalia on Wednesday night with a berth in the California League Championship Series at stake.
San Jose overcome an early 3-0 deficit on Tuesday scoring two runs in both the second and third innings to take a 4-3 lead. The Giants maintained their one-run advantage all the way until the top of the ninth when Rawhide slugger Kevin Cron belted a game-tying solo home run. The contest then remained deadlocked until Villalona's walk-off blast in the 13th.
Aramis Garcia (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) also homered while Chuckie Jones (2-for-6) added a pair of hits for San Jose offensively. Six Giants pitchers combined to allow just one run over the final 12 innings of the game.
Visalia jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first before an out was recorded. Facing San Jose starter Andrew Suarez, the game began with a single from Breland Almadova. Domingo Leyba then hit a line drive to left that was dropped by Daniel Carbonell for an error. Jamie Westbrook was up next and he crushed a home run to left giving the Rawhide a three-run advantage.
The Giants though answered with a home run of their own in the bottom of the second. With one out, Brian Ragira drew a walk before Garcia stepped to the plate and launched a towering two-run homer down the left field line. The home run, Garcia's second of the postseason, cut the Visalia lead to 3-2.
San Jose then moved in front with two more runs in the bottom of the third. Seth Harrison was hit by a pitch to leadoff before taking second on a wild pitch. A Jones single put runners on the corners and then Christian Arroyo lined a game-tying RBI single into left. After Carbonell grounded out to move the runners to second and third, Villalona bounced out to second plating Jones for a 4-3 Giants lead.
Meanwhile, Suarez settled down after his rocky start. The left-hander worked around a leadoff single in the top of the second before a perfect third inning. After San Jose took the lead, the Rawhide threatened in the top of the fourth. Singles from Daniel Palka and Gerson Montilla put runners on first and third with none out. Stewart Ijames followed with a grounder to third that saw Palka attempt to score. Giants third baseman Jonah Arenado threw home on the play and after a long rundown, Palka was tagged out. Suarez then struck out Chuck Taylor and retired Tyler Baker on a groundout to strand two runners in scoring position.
In the top of the fifth, Almadova drew a one-out walk, but Suarez recovered to set down the next two hitters. Suarez then completed his outing with a scoreless top of the sixth pitching around a pair of one-out singles.
Suarez worked six innings and was charged with three runs (two earned). He allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out six during his 88-pitch performance.
Dan Slania (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) relieved Suarez to start the top of the seventh and worked around a two-out double from Leyba to maintain the 4-3 lead. In the top of the eighth, Ian Gardeck (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) allowed a one-out single to Montilla, but came back with consecutive strikeouts of Ijames and Taylor to retire the side.
The Giants managed only two hits - a fifth-inning single from Jones and sixth-inning single off the bat of Garcia - from the fourth through the eighth. The score was still 4-3 when Jake Smith took the mound to begin the top of the ninth. The first batter Smith faced was the pinch-hitter Cron, who crushed an 0-1 pitch over the fence in left for a game-tying solo homer. The home run was Cron's first of the playoffs after slugging 27 during the regular season. Smith recovered to set down the next three hitters, including two via the strikeout, to end the inning.
San Jose threatened to win the game in the bottom of the ninth as Ragira drew a leadoff walk before a Garcia sacrifice bunt advanced the potential winning run to second. However, Rawhide reliever Joey Krehbiel retired Brandon Bednar on a fly out to right and struck out Arenado to send the game into extra innings.
Both teams were retired 1-2-3 in the 10th with Smith (2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO) striking out two batters in the top of the inning. Tyler Rogers (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) then breezed through a perfect top of the 11th with a diving catch made in shallow center by Jones highlighting the frame. In the bottom of the inning, Villalona drew a one-out walk before John Polonius singled to put runners on first and second. However, Garcia's line drive was caught by a leaping Fidel Pena at third base, who then doubled off Villalona at second to end the inning.
Visalia then threatened in the top of the 12th against Rogers as Almadova reached on a one-out bunt single before stealing second. Rogers though retired Leyba on a line out to first and then picked-off Almadova at second to keep the game tied.
San Jose again put the potential winning run in scoring position in the bottom of the 12th as Tyler Horan smashed a two-out double to deep left center, but was stranded when Jones struck out swinging.
Carlos Diaz was then summoned from the bullpen to begin the 13th and surrendered a leadoff infield single to Westbrook. Diaz though retired Palka on a pop out and induced Montilla to fly out to center. A wild pitch then moved Westbrook to second, but Ijames struck out swinging to end the threat.
Mason McCullough entered from the Rawhide bullpen to start the bottom of the 13th and quickly retired Arroyo on a fly out before Carbonell struck out swinging to bring the game to within one out of the 14th inning. Villalona though was up next and he clobbered an 0-1 pitch from McCullough and drove a high fly ball over the fence in left center for a game-winning home run. The homer was Villalona's team-leading third of the postseason and sparked a wild celebration at home plate after he had circled the bases.
Diaz (1-1) earned the win out of the Giants bullpen with McCullough (0-1) taking the loss for Visalia.
Notes:
* The Giants improved to 3-0 in elimination games.
* San Jose is 2-0 in extra-inning games during the postseason (last Friday's 15-inning win over Stockton and Tuesday's victory).
* Villalona also leads the Giants with eight RBI's in the playoffs.
* Visalia out-hit San Jose 12-9.
* The Giants have won seven home games in a row going back to the regular season (3-0 in the playoffs).
* San Jose pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts and just one walk on Tuesday.
* All four games in the Division Series have been decided by one run.
On Deck: The Giants and Rawhide play the winner-take-all Game 5 of the North Division Series on Wednesday evening at Recreation Park in Visalia. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM. Sam Coonrod (7-5, 3.14 ERA in Augusta) is slated to make the start on the mound for San Jose while the Rawhide are expected to counter with Ryan Doran (8-3, 3.62 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 5:30 PM.