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Beavers Edged By River Cats In 10 Innings

April 17, 2009 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Cliff Pennington grounded into a bases-loaded force out that scored Sean Doolittle from third to propel the Sacramento River Cats to a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over the Portland Beavers Thursday night at Raley Field.

After going 4-4 on their season-opening road trip, the Beavers return to Portland to begin a four-game series with the Fresno Grizzlies at PGE Park, beginning with their home opener Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Tickets for the home opener are available at the PGE Park box office, area Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000.

Doolittle reached on a leadoff single to start the River Cats' 10th-inning rally; after Jack Hannahan struck out, Anthony Recker reached on a single through the right side on a hit-and-run play, advancing Doolittle to third with one out. The Beavers then elected to intentionally walk Gregorio Petit to face Pennington, whose dribbler up the middle allowed him to reach safely and plate Doolittle with the winning run.

Pennington scored twice and drew three walks and Daric Barton hit a three-run double for the River Cats (4-4), who gained a 3-1 series victory over the Beavers with the win. The late-inning activities made a winner out of reliever Jeff Gray (1-1), who did not allow a hit over two scoreless frames.

Scott Patterson (0-1), who struck out the side in the ninth, took the loss for the Beavers, who at one point had a 4-1 lead in the game.

Trailing by two, the Beavers rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game. A fielding error by Pennington, the Sacramento shortstop, allowed Peter Ciofrone to score, and Kevin Howard dropped a one-out single into shallow left to score Will Venable and tie things at 6-6.

Emi Brown drove in two runs and Kyle Blanks was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI as one of three Portland batters with two hits on the night.

The Beavers (4-4) built a 4-1 lead by scoring two runs each in the second and third innings. Blanks doubled and scored from third on an RBI groundout by Chad Huffman and Eliezer Alfonzo's sac fly to center plated Brown to give Portland its first lead at 2-1 in the second.

An inning later, Blanks hit an RBI single and Brown grounded into a force out that scored Venable to help the Beavers push their lead to three in the top of the third.

But the River Cats rallied in the bottom of the third, as Barton's bases-loaded double off starter Matt Buschmann cleared the bases and knotted things at 4-4.

Chris Denorfia's two-out double allowed Pennington to score in the fifth, giving Sacramento its second lead of the game, and Petit made it a 6-4 Sacramento advantage in the sixth with an RBI single that scored Hannahan.

The Beavers open an eight-game homestand Friday night at PGE Park. Portland takes on Fresno in a four-game series before the River Cats come to PGE Park for a four-game series beginning Tuesday night.

NOTES: Select Beavers players will be on hand to greet fans at the gates and help hand out schedule magnets to the first 1,903 fans through the gates on Friday's home opener ... in his second Triple-A start, Buschmann gave up six runs, five hits and four walks over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision.

Beavers Game File

THURSDAY'S GAME: Sacramento 7, Beavers 6 (10 innings)

WINNING PITCHER: Gray (1-1)

LOSING PITCHER: Patterson (0-1)

SAVE: None

HOME RUNS: None

FRIDAY'S GAME: Fresno (Billy Sadler: 0-0, 0.00) at Portland (Wade LeBlanc: 0-1, 9.00), 7:05 p.m.; live audio broadcast on KPAM AM-860 and www.portlandbeavers.com. Follow the Beavers on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PortlandBeavers.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 17, 2009


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