Barriga’s Blast Powers Rawhide past Giants

Visalia, CA – Alberto Barriga hit a go-ahead three run home run and the Visalia Rawhide defeated the San Jose Giants 7-1 on Thursday night at Valley Strong Ballpark.

Visalia (60-63, 25-32) takes a two games to one series lead over San Jose (77-46, 35-22). A crowd of 2,202 enjoyed the game with Chris McDonald (Shooter McGavin in the movie “Happy Gilmore”) in attendance.

The Rawhide trailed by a run entering the fifth. Wallace Clark walked and Trent Youngblood notched a single.

Barriga stepped to the plate with two outs and worked a nine pitch at-bat blasting the last pitch over the left field wall. The catcher from Mexico hit his second homer of the week and fourth of the season- all go-ahead home runs.

Jose Alpuria added an RBI single in the seventh to extend the lead. Enyervert Perez further padded the lead with a three run homer in the eighth- his first long ball with Visalia.

Mervin Fell earned the win with 5.2 innings of work from the mound. The right-hander from the Dominican Republic allowed just four hits and a run with five strikeouts. After allowing a run in the first frame Fell allowed just four baserunners the rest of his outing.

Alvin Guzman pitched 2.1 scoreless in relief. He allowed only two baserunners and totaled four strikeouts.

Sawyer Hawks made his Visalia home debut with a perfect ninth and two strikeouts.

Youngblood totaled a big game with two hits, two walks and three runs. Alpuria added a two hit evening. Barriga extended his on-base streak to 11 games.

Friday’s game between Visalia and San Jose is Toy Story Night at Valley Strong Ballpark. The Rawhide will wear Toy Story jerseys available for purchase via an in-game silent auction. Buzz Lightyear will also be in attendance to interact with fans.

In addition, the final Friday jersey giveaway of the year is a Rawhide Serpiente Jersey. The first 350 fans to the ballpark will receive the jersey thanks to Valley Pacific Petroleum and Chevron.

Fans can also take advantage of a 4 for $44 Friday, sponsored by Valley Pacific Petroleum and Chevron. Fans will receive four tickets, four hot dogs and four fountain sodas for $44 by showing a Chevron credit card or a 4 for $44 Voucher, which can be picked up at participating Chevron locations.

Tickets for all upcoming Rawhide games can be purchased on the team’s website or at the Rawhide Ticket Office sponsored by Kaweah Health from 10 AM to 4 PM on weekdays.

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The Visalia Rawhide are a professional baseball team and the Single-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rawhide are celebrating 80 years of professional baseball in Visalia in 2025 as the “Year of the Oak.”  

Stay up to date with the Rawhide on the team’s website and by following the Rawhide on Facebook, X, Instagram and Tik Tok. The Rawhide play all home games at Valley Strong Ballpark located at 300 N Giddings Street Visalia, CA 93291.

Fans can purchase season ticket packages, group packages, single game tickets and team merchandise through the Rawhide website and at the stadium ticket office sponsored by Kaweah Health. All Rawhide games can be watched on MiLB.TV with a free radio broadcast also available online. For more information, visit milb.com/visalia, email [email protected] or call (559) 732-4433.