Furmaniak makes impressive home debut in 9-8 victory

Published on May 4, 2004 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


PORTLAND, Ore. - J.J. Furmaniak went 4-for-4 with his first Triple-A home run, four RBIs and two runs scored in his PGE Park debut to lead the Portland Beavers to a 9-8 victory over the Salt Lake Stingers Monday night.

The Beavers (11-14) saw two separate leads go by the wayside before rallying to go up for good with two runs in the bottom of the eighth and end a nine-game losing skid to the Stingers at PGE Park.

Bart Miadich struck out two and retired all three batters in the ninth for his fifth save and his second against his former team.

With the Beavers down by a run, Furmaniak, who joined the Beavers during their recent road trip from Class AA Mobile, doubled and Bobby Scales drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the eighth against reliever Derrick Turnbow (1-1). The two were pushed over a base on a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Cirillo, and Henri Stanley and Alex Fernandez had RBI singles to give the Beavers a win in the opener to their eight-game homestand.

Cirillo, who joined the Beavers on Monday to begin a major league rehab assignment, was 2-for-3 with two doubles in the game. The San Diego Padres infielder is on the mend from a broken right index finger suffered in spring training.

Fernandez had three hits in the game, including an RBI single that scored Scales to begin the scoring in the bottom of the first.

The Beavers, who had 15 hits on the night, took a 2-0 lead on an RBI single by Furmaniak in the second.

Portland starter Joey Hamilton cruised through the first two innings, retiring the first seven batters he faced before running into trouble in the third.

Brian Gordon laced a one-out double down the right-field line and opened the door for the Stingers to go up by three in the frame. Salt Lake (14-11) went on to load the bases and methodically put five runs on the board against Hamilton, who settled down to retire 10 of the final 12 batters he faced.

Barry Wesson's two-run single to shallow left-center plated Gordon and Brian Specht to tie the game at 2-2. The Stingers, who sent nine men to the plate in the inning, added three more runs in the frame, building a 5-2 lead on RBI singles by Adam Riggs and Alex Pelaez and a groundout by Robb Quinlan.

Cirillo struck out in his first at-bat but whistled a double down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the third. He added his second double with two outs in the fifth inning and came around to score and bring the Beavers to within 5-3 on Stanley's ground-rule double to right.

Furmaniak capped a four-run sixth with a three-run homer to left-center, his first at Triple-A, to give Portland its second lead of the game at 7-5. The Beavers loaded the bases with no outs against reliever Mitch Arnold and scored their first run of the inning on Ben Risinger's sacrifice liner to center that scored Fernandez.

The Stingers, however, drew two walks off reliever Blaine Neal to lead off the top of the seventh and loaded the bases with Wesson's infield single on their way to reclaiming the lead. Specht scored on a wild pitch and Pelaez gave Salt Lake an 8-7 lead with a two-run single up the middle.

Mike Bynum (1-3) pitched a scoreless eighth for his first win of the season, while Turnbow fell to 1-1 on the year with the loss.

Wesson went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored and Pelaez, a former Beaver, finished with a pair of hits and three RBIs to lead Salt Lake.

The Stingers swept the Beavers in two four-game series last season at PGE Park and had won nine in a row at Portland's home venue dating back to the 2002 season.

The two teams meet up again Tuesday afternoon in a 12:05 p.m. start at PGE Park.

NOTES: The Beavers, who currently have six players on the disabled list, placed right-hander Chris Oxspring on the DL on Monday with a sprained right elbow ... right-hander Justin Germano was transferred to Portland from Class AA Mobile to take Oxspring's spot in the rotation ... former Beaver Khalil Greene was named the National League Rookie of the Month for April ... Padres outfielder Brian Giles was named the NL Player of the Week ... of Scales' last eight hits, six have been for extra bases ... the current Stingers roster includes five former Beavers in Jason Middlebrook, Wil Nieves, Pelaez, Riggs and Jake Thrower ... Neal was ejected from the game after arguing with home plate umpire Dave Aschwege following the three-run top of the seventh ... the Beavers improved to 3-12 when trailing after seven innings.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 4, 2004


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