Sidewinders cruise to easy win

Published on August 22, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Tucson Sidewinders News Release


Salt Lake City, UT - Tim Raines, Jr. had three extra base hits and drove in four and Juan Gutierrez allowed just an unearned run over seven innings as the Sidewinders beat the Salt Lake Bees 12-3 on Friday night at Franklin Covey Field.

Raines opened the game with a triple, had a sacrifice fly in the second, doubled in a run in the sixth and drilled his 17th home run of the year in the seventh to lead Tucson's 17 hit attack. Trent Oeltjen had three hits and drove in two while Donnie Kelly and Frank Curreri had three hits each. Kelly, Jesus Merchan and Phil Avals added RBI.

Gutierrez didn't need much run support as he turned in his longest outing since June 1st. Gutierrez (5-10) gave up just four hits and a walk while striking out three. He has not lost since June 7th and went seven innings for the third time this season.

The Sidewinders got off to a fast start as Oeltjen singled to score Raines after his leadoff triple. After Oeltjen was picked off first, Justin Upton doubled and came in to score on a pair of wild pitches by Bees starter Nick Adenhart.

Adenhart (7-13) allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings. His 13 losses lead the PCL.

Salt Lake scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning but the Sidewinders scored two more in the second to take a 4-1 lead. Avlas singled in Kelly and Raines' sacrifice fly plated Frank Curreri.

Tucson pushed the lead to double digits with eight runs in the fifth through eighth innings. Jesus Merchan was credited with a RBI in the fifth and Raines and Oeltjen had RBI in the sixth. In the seventh, Salt Lake reliever Jeff Kennard booted what should have been an inning ending comebacker from Avlas and threw the ball down the right field line to allow two runs to score and sending Avlas to third. Raines followed with a two run home run to left-center to give the Sidewinders an 11-1 lead. Donnie Kelly's RBI single in the eighth made it 12-1.

Esmerling Vasquez allowed a two run home run to Freddy Sandoval in the bottom of the eighth to cap the game's scoring.

The Sidewinders and Bees will play game four of their five game series on Saturday night at Franklin Covey Field. Right-hander Matt Torra (4-4, 4.81) starts for Tucson against right-hander Nick Green (7-7, 5.31) for Salt Lake. First pitch is at 6:05 Tucson time. The game will air live on COOL 1450 beginning at 5:55.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 22, 2008


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