Veen scampers home to deliver an 8-7 walk-off win for Fresno against San Jose 

Fresno, CA (Tuesday, August 3) – The Fresno Grizzlies (53-26) walked-off on the San Jose Giants (51-28) 8-7 Tuesday evening from Chukchansi Park. Fresno trailed 5-0 in the fourth before their comeback claws started to show. This was the fourth walk-off victory for the Grizzlies this season with the most recent one coming exactly one month ago. Fresno now holds a two-game advantage over San Jose for the best record in Low-A West.

The Giants grabbed an early 5-0 lead from a pair of homers. Luis Matos smacked a three-run shot to deep left field in the first, his ninth longball of the season. Then, Marco Luciano blasted his Low-A West best 18th wallop in the third, a two-run missile to left.

Despite the early disadvantage, the Grizzlies quietly crept back into the contest. Eddy Diaz lined a triple to right-center, plating Ronaiker Palma in the fifth. Then, Trevor Boone smashed a three-run tater to left field in the sixth, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

San Jose would lengthen the advantage to 7-4 in the top of the seventh from a Luis Toribio RBI double and Matos single. This would give Matos a four-RBI affair. Fresno squeezed the discrepancy back to one in the eighth after a Joe Aeilts RBI single and passed ball.

Heading into the ninth, Diaz mustered a single with one out. Then, an error by Clay Helvey advanced Diaz to third. Diaz would waltz home shortly after a rocket triple to center by Zac Veen. This brought up newcomer Warming Bernabel, who chopped a grounder to third. The ball was misplayed and ruled a fielder’s choice, allowing Veen to scamper home with the winning run.

The 8-7 walk-off provided Gavin Hollowell (2-0) the triumph and Clay Helvey (3-4) the loss. Grizzlies’ starter Case Williams tossed three innings in his Fresno debut. He gave way to Will Tribucher, who hurled two shutout frames in his first appearance with the Grizzlies. Giants’ righty Wil Jensen took a no-decision despite five-plus innings of strong ball. He did not issue a walk and fanned four. The teams combined for 19 strikeouts with the Fresno staff enjoying 11 of them. Both clubs are back in action tomorrow night from Chukchansi Park.

Top Performers: Fresno Grizzlies (Colorado Rockies)

• 1B Trevor Boone (1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB)

• RF Zac Veen (2-5, 3B, RBI, R)

• 2B Eddy Diaz (2-5, 3B, RBI, R)

• 3B Warming Bernabel (2-5, 2B, RBI, R)

Top Performers: San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants)

• CF Luis Matos (2-5, HR, 4 RBI, R)

• SS Marco Luciano (1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB)

• 1B Luis Toribio (1-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R, BB)

On Deck:

Wednesday, August 4 vs. San Jose Giants, San Jose LHP Kyle Harrison (1-3, 4.12) vs. Fresno LHP Austin Kitchen (0-0, 5.50), 6:50 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTES:

Every Fresno batter notched at least one hit (13 total) with the first four players in the lineup relishing multi-hit games. Of the 13 hits, three of them went for triples, the most in a single-game by the Grizzlies offense. Drew Romo extended his hit streak to 12 games in the process, as well.

The Grizzlies and Giants have met 19 times this year with 11 more regular season games scheduled. Fresno holds an 11-8 season-lead with 14 of those contests being decided by one or two runs.