Portland Beavers Rally to 8-3 Win over Tacoma Rainiers

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - PORTLAND, Ore. – Peter Ciofrone belted a go-ahead grand slam and the Portland Beavers rallied for seven runs in the eighth inning on their way to an 8-3 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers before a near-sellout, Fourth of July crowd of 15,873 Friday night at PGE Park.

The attendance was the second-largest since the Beavers' return to the Pacific Coast League in 2001 – second only to the team's celebrated first game back and the unveiling of the newly renovated PGE Park on April 30, 2001.

Will Venable hit his sixth home run and the Beavers improved to 4-4 in Fourth of July games since their return in 2001.

Tug Hulett hit two solo home runs and Charlton Jimerson had an RBI single as the Rainiers (44-44) built a 3-1 lead, but things unraveled in the eighth.

After walking the bases loaded, reliever Tracy Thorpe (1-3) issued another free pass

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to Matt Antonelli, allowing the Beavers (45-41) to get within 3-2, and gave up the two-out grand slam to Ciofrone, his second in two seasons with the Beavers and the first for Portland this year. Later, Justin Huber added a two-run double that capped the seven-run frame.

Adam Bass (2-1) was credited with the win, tossing two scoreless innings for the Beavers, who have won their last three games.

Hulett led off the game with a home run and the Rainiers added to their lead in the sixth, getting a leadoff double from Victor Diaz and a two-out RBI single from Jimerson.

Venable cut the Rainiers' lead in half with his solo shot in the sixth, but Hulett made it 3-1 with his second home run of the game in the Tacoma half of the seventh.

The festive evening featured a special appearance by the ZOOperstars, $1 hot dogs as part of Comcast Family Feast Friday and a post-game fireworks show.

The series resumes in a special matinee affair on Saturday, as the Beavers play host to the Rainiers at 2:05 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised live on FSN.

NOTES: During the game, the Beavers presented a check for $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Club as part of the team's spring grant program made available through the Portland Beavers & Portland Timbers Community Fund … Ciofrone's grand slam was Portland's first since Pete Laforest hit a bases-loaded homer against Memphis on Aug. 8, 2007 … the Beavers improved to 9-37 when trailing after seven innings.

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