Pickles Come from Behind for 5-3 Win over Kelowna
July 15, 2018 - West Coast League (WCL)
Portland Pickles News Release
Portland, Ore. -- The Pickles came back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Kelowna Falcons 5-3 Saturday night in front of another sellout crowd of 2,570 at Walker Stadium.
The win clinches the series for Portland, who goes for the sweep Sunday at 5:05pm in the last game before the all star break. The Pickles improve to 22-12 overall and 5-3 in the second half, tied with Corvallis at the top of the South division.
Kelowna (6-3 2nd Half; 20-15 overall) took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first off Pickles starter Brett Walker on four base hits. But Portland responded in the bottom of the first, as Carson Breshears and Gio Diaz both reached with singles. Mikey Perez's RBI groundout scored Breshears, and Diaz scored on a wild pitch with Joey Cooper at the dish to make it 3-2 after one inning.
The Pickles tied the score at 3-3 thanks to a Carson Breshears two-out RBI infield single in the second that scored Jack Murphy. The Picks plated two more in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead thanks to another two-out Breshears single that scored Gabe Skoro, and as the return throw from the outfield got away from the second baseman, Murphy rounded third to score another run.
Leading 5-3, relief pitching took over for Portland, but not without drama. Leo Nierenberg (W 2-1) stranded runners at the corners with a strikeout in the fourth, and stranded another run in scoring position in the sixth. Damon Treadwell pitched a scoreless seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth with runners at second and third and one out. The big right-hander responded with a pair of strikeouts, ending the inning, and Colby Wyatt struck out the top of the order 1-2-3 in the ninth to earn his second save.
Portland held Kelowna hitless and scoreless in every inning besides the first. For the series, the Falcons have scored all their runs in just two innings, and have all but one of their base hits in those frames as well.
The Pickles go for the sweep on Sunday, first pitch at 5:05pm from Walker Stadium. Follow the team on Facebook as well as Twitter and Instagram @PicklesBaseball. Watch home games via the team's Facebook Live feed and listen to games online on the listen live link at PortlandPicklesBaseball.com.
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