Gonzalez Gives Fans Something to Cheer about in Home Finale

Published on August 29, 2003 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


PORTLAND, Ore. - Wiki Gonzalez had three hits and singled home Rico Washington with the game winner in the 10th inning as the Portland Beavers concluded their home season with a 5-4 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers in front of 14,665 Thursday night at PGE Park.

Washington drew a two-out walk as did the next batter, Jon Knott. Gonzalez' base hit to right off Allan Simpson was just enough to plate Washington, who narrowly avoided the tag from catcher Julio Mosquera.

Gonzalez tallied three RBIs and Knott was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

Kevin Walker got the win in relief while Randy Williams took the loss.

The win kept the Beavers (68-72) three games behind division-leading Edmonton in the North Division. Portland, which moved into second place ahead of Salt Lake, begins a season-ending four-game series with the Trappers Friday night.

Portland trailed 4-0 early but chipped away at the lead while starter Clay Condrey kept the Rainiers quiet.

What looked to be a shaky outing for Condrey turned into one his best. Condrey retired the side in order in the first inning before running into trouble an inning later. Greg Connors hit a two-run homer off Condrey and the Rainiers took advantage of back-to-back throwing errors by Khalil Greene to keep the inning alive and score two more unearned runs to go up 4-0.

But Condrey retired 15 straight at one point between the third and eighth innings and wound up striking out eight in 7.1 innings of work, his longest outing of the season. He gave up two earned runs on four hits.

In the bottom of the second, Gonzalez doubled home Knott to put the Beavers on the board. Donaldo Mendez made it 4-2 with an RBI double in the fifth and the Beavers rallied to knot things at 4-4 in the sixth on consecutive run-scoring singles by Gonzalez and Rich Gomez.

NOTES: Thursday's crowd was the Beavers' second largest of the season and the third largest in PGE Park's three seasons for a Beavers game ... Wiki Gonzalez was 13-for-27 during Portland's 10-game homestand ... Khalil Greene failed to reach base by a base hit or walk for the first time in 19 games ... the Beavers were 6-4 on the season-ending homestand.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 29, 2003


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