Portland Beavers Crush Tucson Sidewinders 16-9 - AAA, Pacific Coast League

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - PORTLAND, Ore. – Will Venable was 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, Michael Barrett drove in three runs and the Portland Beavers scored a combined 14 runs between the fourth and fifth innings on their way to a 16-9 victory over the Tucson Sidewinders before 5,637 Wednesday afternoon at PGE Park.

Peter Ciofrone’s two-run double highlighted an eight-run fourth inning, and the Beavers (22-22) got two-run doubles from Barrett and pitcher Enrique Gonzalez during a six-run fifth in one of their more lopsided wins of the season.

Chase Headley hit his eighth home run, reached base five times and scored three runs for the Beavers, who are 12-3 over their last 15 home games.

The Beavers sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth, setting a new season high for runs in an inning in the process. The inning was kept alive by two Tucson errors that led to five unearned runs.

Starter Juan Gutierrez was lifted after eight of the nine batters he faced in the

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fourth reached base. Gutierrez (1-8) gave up a season-high nine runs (5 earned), seven hits and four walks over 3 1/3 innings to suffer his eighth loss in his last nine starts.

Tucson reliever Dustin Glant relieved Gutierrez in the fourth, also failing to hold back the Beavers. Glant allowed seven runs (6 earned), seven hits and two walks in just 1 2/3 innings.

Wilkin Castillo hit his first home run and had four RBIs and Trot Nixon added a two-run homer for the Sidewinders (16-31), who fell to 6-19 on the road this season.

Gonzalez (1-2) weathered a rough third inning to get his first win of the season. He gave up five walks, three runs and four hits to go with two strikeouts in five innings of work.

Gonzalez allowed five straight batters to reach with two outs in the top of the third. After loading the bases, he forced in two runs with walks and gave up an RBI single to Josh Whitesell as the Sidewinders took a 3-1 lead.

Headley’s one-out solo blast – his fifth homer in his last eight games – trimmed Tucson’s lead to 3-2 in the third.

The Beavers wrap up their series with the Sidewinders Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: Headley played third base for the third time this season … the teams combined for four bases-loaded walks … the Beavers came one run shy of matching their most prolific inning in their eight seasons back in the PCL with their fourth-inning outburst … Clay Hensley lowered his ERA to 1.29 with a scoreless inning in his sixth rehab appearance for Portland … catcher Matt Morgan pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth to become the first Tucson position player to pitch since the 2006 season … the Beavers drew 10,549 fans between their two Art & Science of Baseball School Days on Tuesday and Wednesday … Portland pitchers gave up nine walks, a new season high … Whitesell was hit in the helmet by a pitch from Edwin Moreno in the ninth inning. Whitesell was down for a moment but stayed in the game … Thursday’s series finale will be televised live on FSN … Gonzalez became the third Portland pitcher to tally multiple RBIs in a game this season, joining Shawn Estes and Josh Geer.

Beavers Game File
WEDNESDAY’S GAME: Beavers 16, Tucson 9
WINNING PITCHER: Gonzalez (1-2)
LOSING PITCHER: Gutierrez (1-8)
SAVE: None
HOME RUNS: Venable (4), Headley (8), Nixon (6), Castillo (1)
THURSDAY’S GAME: Tucson (Yusmeiro Petit: 1-1, 3.66) at Portland (Wade LeBlanc: 2-4, 9.35), 7:05 p.m.; televised live on FSN, live audio broadcast on KKAD AM-1550 and www.portlandbeavers.com.
THURSDAY’S PROMOTION: Warm up those vocal chords and pull out those hits from the 1980s for the Beavers’ Karaoke Night at PGE Park as they wrap up a four-game series and the homestand against Tucson. On a Miller Lite Thursday presented by 95.5 The Game, fans who perform a song at the special karaoke tent prior to the game can win a special discount on tickets.

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