BOX SCORE
Just like the 2012 World Series, the 2012 Rising Stars Game ended with a Giants closer getting a punchout. San Francisco prospect Heath Hembree struck out Red Sox prospect Michael Almanzar with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to secure a 9-4 win for the East Division.
The East, managed by former Giant third baseman Matt Williams, recorded 12 hits and rode a six-run fifth inning to victory in front of 5,713 fans at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Giants top prospect Gary Brown hit second for the East and went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a strikeout. Brown singled in the bottom of the fourth inning to plate Diamondbacks prospect Chris Owings, break up a tie game and force a pitching change.
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Left-handed first baseman Ricky Oropesa pinch hit for Jonathan Singleton in the fifth inning, lashing a 1-0 pitch past the drawn-in infield to right that scored Nationials' speedster Brian Goodwin for the East's sixth run of the frame.
It wasn't all bad for the West, though.
A's prospect James Simmons pitched the sixth inning and worked a perfect frame with a fly out, a ground out and a strikeout.
Former Giants prospect Tommy Joseph, who was traded to the Phillies in the Hunter Pence trade, went 1-for-2 with one runner left on base for the losing squad.