PORTLAND, Ore. – Allen Craig homered twice, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Jon Jay added solo shots, and the Memphis Redbirds erased two different deficits to defeat the Portland Beavers 8-7 before a season-high crowd of 7,015 Wednesday afternoon at PGE Park.
Craig, Jay and Hoffpauir, who had three hits, drove in two runs apiece for the Redbirds, who snapped a four-game skid.
The loss overshadowed a solid day for Portland’s Will Venable and Craig Stansberry. Venable went 3-for-4 with two homers, three RBIs and three runs scored, while Stansberry had three hits and homered for a third straight game. Emil Brown added a solo home run in the eighth and the Beavers (24-23) rallied for a run in the ninth before falling short.
Venable gave the Beavers a first-inning lead with a two-run shot to left; he then combined with Stansberry on back-to-back homers in the fifth to put Portland up 5-2. Venable, who upped his home run total to nine, now shares the team lead with Kyle Blanks and Chad Huffman.
But the Redbirds (23-21) belted all four of their home runs over a two-inning stretch to take the lead. After Craig and Hoffpauir hit solo home runs in the sixth, Shane Robinson walked, stole second and scored on a tying RBI single by Tyler Greene in the seventh. Jay, the next batter, gave the Redbirds the lead with a two-run shot and Craig followed with his second home run of the game.
With neither starter factoring in the decision, Katsuhiko Maekawa (1-1) picked up the win, while Jon Ellis (5-2) allowed four runs and retired just one batter in the loss. Jess Todd gave up an unearned run in the ninth but held on for his ninth save.
Down 2-0, Memphis tied the game in the second. Brett Wallace led off with a double, and RBI singles by Hoffpauir and Mark Shorey brought the game even at 2-2.
But Blanks doubled home Venable in the third to give the Beavers their second lead of the game.
The Beavers will wrap up their third homestand of the season Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.
NOTES: The Beavers have homered in nine straight games … the Beavers have hit back-to-back homers three times this season … Venable has Portland’s two multi-homer games this year … the Redbirds set a season high for home runs, while the Beavers matched their season high.
Beavers Game File
WEDNESDAY’S GAME: Memphis 8, Beavers 7
WINNING PITCHER: Maekawa (1-1)
LOSING PITCHER: Ellis (5-2)
SAVE: Todd (9)
HOME RUNS: Venable 2 (9), Stansberry (3), Brown (4), Craig 2 (6), Hoffpauir (3), Jay (2)
THURSDAY’S GAME: Memphis (Clayton Mortensen: 3-3, 3.59) at Portland (Cesar Ramos: 3-3, 3.06), 7:05 p.m.; televised live on FSN, live audio broadcast on KKAD AM-1550 and www.portlandbeavers.com. Follow the Beavers on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PortlandBeavers.
THURSDAY’S PROMOTION: The Beavers celebrate all things Portland on Keep Portland Weird Night on a Miller Lite Thursday at PGE Park as they round out their eight-game homestand. The final game of the series between the Beavers and Redbirds will be televised live on FSN. |
