Diego Goris Leads Chihuahuas to Walkoff Win
Diego Goris drives in the winnings runs with a long single to left-centerfield
El Paso, Texas
The El Paso Chihuahuas won a wild one at home against the Fresno Grizzlies Friday, as Diego Goris hit a two-out, two-strike single, driving in two Chihuahuas to make the final score 8-7.
Jesse Scholtens was the starter for El Paso, making only his second Triple-A appearance. He recently went 6 2/3 innings in his debut while allowing only two runs on five hits.
Friday didn’t go as well as Scholtens allowed five earned runs against the visiting Grizzlies in just four innings. Scholtens turned in a sharp first inning, sitting the Grizzlies down in order, but Fresno got to him in the 2nd.
Fresno’s Nick Tanielu made his Triple-A debut and drove in J.D. Davis on a ball that was misplayed by Allen Craig. The error prevented Tanielu from recording his first hit, but he would go on to collect that first Triple-A hit in the 3rd inning. The Chihuahuas stormed back in the bottom of the 2nd inning with a single by Hunter Renfroe, followed by home runs by both Shane Peterson and Diego Goris. The Chihuahuas lead would not last long as Scholtens gave up three singles, and home runs to Jake Marisnick and Tyler White in the top of the 3rd.
El Paso tacked on a run in the 4th and both teams scored in the 6th, but the Grizzlies maintained their lead until the bottom of the 9th when Diego Goris scored on an Allen Craig double, tying the game. That sent the game to extra innings.
The new pace-of-play rules were broadcast over the PA system as Drew Ferguson trotted out to start the inning at second base. Fresno’s automatic runner scored on a fly ball that was misplayed by Shane Peterson. Peterson recovered quickly and threw out Jake Marisnick, who was trying to advance from 1st but had been tagging up.
No further damage was done and the Chihuahuas were fortunate enough to send the speedy Auston Bousfield to second base as their automatic runner. Despite his speed, he was unable to score on a Luis Urias single. With runners on first and third, catcher Brett Nicholas struck out. Fresno reliever Buddy Boshers intentionally walked Hunter Renfroe and then struck out Shane Peterson, bringing up Diego Goris. Goris came to the plate hitting .350 with runners in scoring position, but quickly fell behind 0-and-2 after hitting a foul ball to the third base side and whiffing on a low breaking ball. The next pitch was a high fastball, which was too high to tempt Goris. Then he fouled another ball high and out of play. Finally, with the El Paso crowd enthusiastically chanting “Go Diego Go!”, Goris drove the ball to left-center, easily scoring Bousfield and Urias.
The 27-year-old Diego Goris was 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI. His singles were clutch and he showed his versatility by playing first base and third base and often moving into the second base area during shifts. This game is a perfect illustration of everything Goris is capable of. Having played in El Paso since 2015, he has emerged as a team leader and a fan favorite. The organization is clearly interested him as a player and a person considering the brought him back from the White Sox less than a month after he signed a minor league deal with Chicago. At times it has felt as though Goris is destined to stay in Triple-A no matter what he does. That may be changing as San Diego continues to have significant holes in their big league roster, especially in the infield.
Notes:
Trey Wingenter looked fantastic as he went two innings, striking out two while facing the minimum six batters. After a rough start, he is pitching as expected and his current 4.74 ERA is not an accurate reflection of how he has looked down here. Over his last 10 appearances, he has pitched to a 1.98 ERA while striking out 12 in 13 1/3 innings.
Javy Guerra‘s struggles continue. He broke his streak of seven consecutive strikeouts with a hard ground ball out to short stop and delivered a sac bunt late in the game, but his average is down to .190 as he recorded another hitless game. He has two hits in his last 45 MiLB at-bats – two for his last 47 if you include his big league at bats.
Hunter Renfroe was one of the most excited players on the field following the walk-off. It’s good to see the big leaguer on rehab enjoying baseball.
Tyler Webb pitched a scoreless inning, bringing his ERA down to 1.38.
I’m Eric. I’m a lifetime baseball fan, recreational fantasy baseball player and serious baseball collector. Unlike most of the team, it’s my love of collecting that got me into prospecting. I just moved to El Paso, home of the San Diego Padres Triple-A club, the El Paso Chihuahuas. I was able to watch a few Padres prospects in the Arizona Fall League this November. Beyond that I hadn’t seen Padres minor league baseball since 2007. The San Antonio Missions had just become affiliated with the Padres and the team was named the Baseball America Minor League Team of the Year. They had guys like Will Venable, Chase Headley, Wade LeBlanc, Dirk Hayhurst, Nick Hundley, and the everlasting Chad Huffman. I say “everlasting” because Huffman is still in the minors battling for a job and will attend spring training with the Cardinals this year.
I’m in the Army which is what brought me to El Paso. I’m originally from Texas and at heart I’m a Reds fan, but my situation makes it much more sensible for me to cover the Padres. I have a girlfriend, two cats and about a million baseball cards and books. Moving to a city with a AAA baseball team is very exciting and I plan on attending several games throughout the season. I’m on Twitter at @USKillian.