Lavigne’s walk-off homer seals incredible 10-9 comeback for Fresno Saturday night 

Fresno, CA (Saturday, July 3) – In front of a season-high crowd of 9,197, the Fresno Grizzlies (34-19) walked-off on the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (25-27) 10-9 Saturday night from Chukchansi Park. The Grizzlies showed their comeback claws after trailing 9-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth, their largest comeback of the season. This was the third walk-off hit by Fresno and the first via home run. With the victory, the Grizzlies won the series against the Quakes and improved to 16-1 against the Low-A West South Division at home (23-6 overall).

Fresno blasted five clouts in the triumph, with four of them coming in the last two innings. Julio Carreras left the yard in the fifth, his third longball of the season. Carreras finished the affair with a pair of hits and runs. Heading into the eighth, the Grizzlies trailed 9-2 before rattling off three dingers. Ezequiel Tovar smoked a solo shot to left field, his team-leading eighth of the year. Tovar ended the contest with a trio of hits and runs, while knocking in a pair. Two batters later, Mateo Gil whacked a two-run wallop to dead center. It was his fourth of the 2021 campaign, providing him a multi-hit and RBI evening. Later, Colin Simpson belted his first tater of the season, a two-run bomb to right field. He concluded the game with two hits and RBI. This trimmed the deficit to 9-7 heading into the ninth.

In that last inning, Eddy Diaz walked to start the comeback. He would come around to score on a Tovar double. This brought Grant Lavigne to the plate. The lefty crushed a 1-1 pitch to deep right field, sending the Fresno faithful into a frenzy. The fifth and final big fly for the Grizzlies gave Lavigne a multi-hit, RBI and run contest. This delivered Blake Goldsberry (1-0) his first professional win and Carlos Alejo (2-1) the loss.

Fresno starter Anderson Amarista allowed six runs over three innings of work. He gave way to Anderson Pilar, who hurled three shutout frames. Pilar struck out a trio of Rancho Cucamonga batters. Tanner Propst, Juan Mejia and Goldsberry each flung an inning in the victory.

The Quakes offense collected 16 hits in the defeat. Five batters earned multi-hit affairs with Jorbit Vivas leading the charge. Vivas raked his eighth four-bagger of the season and added three singles for a 4-for-5 contest. He also plated three runs for Rancho Cucamonga. Starter Robbie Peto chucked five and two-thirds frames of two-run ball. He fanned a trio of sluggers. The clubs wrap up the series tomorrow for the Fourth of July.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• 1B Grant Lavigne (2-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, walk-off)

• DH Ezequiel Tovar (3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, SB)

• 3B Mateo Gil (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R)

• SS Julio Carreras (2-4, HR, RBI, 2 R)

• C Colin Simpson (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, threw out 2 base runners)

Top Performers: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angeles Dodgers)

• 2B Jorbit Vivas (4-5, HR, RBI, 3 R)

• 3B Eddys Leonard (2-5, 2 RBI, R)

• 1B Imanol Vargas (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R)

On Deck:

Sunday, July 4 vs. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Rancho Cucamonga RHP Jimmy Lewis (0-2, 7.84) vs. Fresno LHP Sam Weatherly (2-4, 4.43), 6:35 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTE:

Daniel Montano reached on an infield single in the sixth, extending his current hit streak to 13 games. This tied Grant Lavigne for the longest hit streak by a Grizzlies’ batter this season.