Ciofrone, Venable extend hitting streaks in 8-7 victory

Published on July 12, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


TUCSON, Ariz. - Peter Ciofrone had three hits and a walk to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, and the Portland Beavers pulled away with a four-run seventh inning and held on in the ninth to beat the Tucson Sidewinders 8-7 Saturday night at Tucson Electric Park.

Paul McAnulty hit an RBI triple and pinch-hitter Justin Huber added a key, two-run single with two outs to cap the scoring in the seventh as Portland (48-46) broke a 4-4 tie at the time.

Will Venable pushed his hitting streak to a team-high 13 games and Shawn Wooten drove in two runs for the Beavers, including one in the seventh when he was struck in the helmet by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Portland's Cesar Ramos (8-7) allowed four runs and scattered 10 hits across six innings to earn the win, his second in as many starts against the Sidewinders this season.

Jesus Merchan was 4-for-5 with three RBIs and Jeff Salazar went 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored for the Sidewinders (40-57), who grabbed a brief lead in the third after falling behind 3-0 early.

Merchan laced a two-out RBI single into center in the bottom of the ninth to cut the margin to a run, but with the tying run on third and potential winning run on first, Edwin Moreno, who will represent the Beavers in next week's Triple-A All-Star Game, persevered to notch his ninth save for the club.

The loss went to Brandon Medders (1-2), who yielded four runs, four hits and three walks in just 1 1/3 innings of relief work.

The Beavers put a two-out rally together in the first, taking a quick 3-0 lead. Vincent Sinisi hit an RBI single, an error by second baseman Donnie Kelly allowed Venable to scored from third and Wooten rounded out the scoring with an RBI double to left.

Tucson overtook Portland with four runs in the bottom of the third, plating a run when Tim Raines Jr. scored from third on a passed ball, Merchan hit an RBI single and Kelly and Matt Morgan added RBI doubles.

Matt Antonelli reached on a leadoff triple in the fourth and scored on an RBI single by Ramos to tie the game at 4-4.

The Beavers round out their final series before the all-star break with a scheduled doubleheader Sunday at Tucson. First pitch is 4 p.m.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 12, 2008


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