Three homers lift Portland in 5-1 win at Tucson

Published on August 16, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


TUCSON, Ariz. - Ernesto Frieri struck out seven over six strong innings for a win in his Triple-A debut and Peter Ciofrone hit a pinch-hit, three-run home run in the top of the seventh as the Portland Beavers earned a 5-1 victory over the Tucson Sidewinders at Tucson Electric Park Saturday night.

J.D. Closser and Matt Antonelli hit back-to-back solo home runs in the ninth to help the Beavers (66-61) take their 10th win in 13 meetings with Tucson this season.

Transferred from Class A Lake Elsinore earlier in the day to start in place of Chad Reineke, who was recalled by San Diego on Saturday, Frieri (1-0) allowed just one run, two hits and two walks in his first appearance above Class A.

And with offense at a premium over the first six innings, the Beavers trailed 1-0 going into the seventh, but Justin Huber and Antonelli both walked, and Ciofrone, who missed the previous two games after being injured during a defensive play on Wednesday, clubbed his 14th home run of the season and extended his road-hitting streak to 28 straight games in the process.

Edwin Moreno worked the final 1 1/3 innings to notch his 17th save of the year.

Billy Buckner (5-9) gave up Ciofrone's go-ahead home run in the seventh to take the loss in his first relief appearance of the season for the Sidewinders (54-71), who have allowed 38 runs in losing their last three games.

Starter Max Scherzer gave the Sidewinders six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and four walks while striking out six Portland batters.

Tucson's Frank Curreri was the only batter to log two hits in a game that produced just 11 hits between the two clubs.

The two teams meet again Sunday night at 6 p.m.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from August 16, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central