Gerut delivers winning hit in 12th inning; Beavers win fifth in a row

Published on May 6, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


PORTLAND, Ore. - On the day he was named the Pacific Coast League Batter of the Week, Portland outfielder Jody Gerut made an early bid for a repeat honor.

Gerut's one-out RBI single up the middle in the 12th inning gave the Portland Beavers their fifth straight win and a four-game sweep of the New Orleans Zephyrs with a 5-4 victory over the New Orleans Zephyrs Monday night at PGE Park.

In winning the series finale, the Beavers wrapped up their homestand with a 7-1 record, matching their best eight-game homestand since the club's return to the Pacific Coast League in 2001.

Brian Myrow was 2-for-3 with a double and three walks for the Beavers (15-14), who also got solo homers from Craig Stansberry and Edgar Gonzalez.

Gonzalez' pinch-hit homer in the sixth knotted the game at 4-4. Things remained tied until the bottom of the 12th, when Stansberry reached on a leadoff walk, Matt Antonelli doubled and Gerut ended the game with his single off Ivan Maldonado (0-2).

Valentino Pascucci hit his second home run and drove in three runs to lead the Zephyrs (16-15), who have lost five in a row.

Josh Banks (1-0) worked the scoreless top of the 12th to get the win.

The Beavers took their first lead in the fourth when Stansberry reached on a two-out double and came around to score when pitcher Wade LeBlanc placed a line-drive single into center field, giving the Beavers a 3-2 advantage.

LeBlanc, who allowed 15 runs and 20 hits in 6 1/3 innings over his previous two starts, was shaky in the first but faced the minimum over the next five innings before giving up a two-run homer to Pascucci with two outs in the top of the sixth, vaulting the Zephyrs to a 4-3 advantage.

The lead didn't last for long, though, as Gonzalez hit a pinch-hit, solo homer that narrowly cleared the wall in left to tie that game at 4-4 in the bottom of the inning.

Marshall McDougall led off the bottom of the eighth with double to left-center and was at third with one out, but the Beavers were unable to drive in the go-ahead run against reliever Willie Collazo. The Beavers put two men on in the ninth, but Collazo struck out Chip Ambres and got McDougall to fly out to center to end the threat.

The Zephyrs took a 2-0 lead in the first, getting a sac fly from Pascucci and an RBI double from Fernando Tatis after Anderson Hernandez walked and former Beaver Brady Clark doubled to start the game.

Gerut singled and scored on Myrow's RBI single in the bottom of the first, and Stansberry tied it at 2-2 with a solo shot in the second, his third homer of the season.

The Beavers now embark on an eight-game road swing through the Midwest, where they'll take on the Omaha Royals and Iowa Cubs. Portland opens up a four-game set at Omaha Tuesday night at 4:35 p.m. (Pacific).

NOTES: Ambres extended his hitting streak to nine games ... Gerut was named the PCL Batter of the Week on Monday, hitting .462 with four homers and seven RBIs last week. Gerut is the first Portland player to win a PCL weekly award since outfielder Terrmel Sledge in August 2006 ... Stansberry has a hit in five straight games while McDougall extended his hitting streak to six games ... Myrow has eight RBIs in his last four games ... reliever Dirk Hayhurst fanned three batters in his two innings and now shares the team lead with 27 strikeouts ... four of New Orleans' six hits went for extra bases ... Gerut made a diving catch in right field in the top of the ninth to rob Pascucci of another extra-base hit ... the Beavers are 2-0 in extra innings ... Portland pitcher Shawn Estes, who picked up his fourth victory Saturday night, pinch-hit with runners and second and third in the bottom of the 11th but popped out to shallow left to keep the game tied.

Beavers Game File MONDAY'S GAME: Beavers 5, New Orleans 4 (12 innings) WINNING PITCHER: Banks (1-0) LOSING PITCHER: Maldonado (0-2) SAVE: None HOME RUNS: Stansberry (3), Gonzalez (2), Pascucci (2) TUESDAY'S GAME: Portland (Enrique Gonzalez: 0-1, 4.09) at Omaha (Matt Wright: 0-1, 5.60), 4:35 p.m. (Pacific); live audio broadcast on KKAD AM-1550 and www.portlandbeavers.com.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 6, 2008


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