LeBlance Shines for Beavers in 9-1 Win Over Sacramento

LeBlanc struck out six of the first eight batters he faced and limited the River Cats – the defending PCL and Triple-A champions – to one run.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

PORTLAND, Ore. - It didn’t take long for pitcher Wade LeBlanc to make a dent in the Beavers record book.

In fact, it took just one appearance.

In his Triple-A debut for Portland Monday night, the third-year professional struck out a career-high 11 batters, matching Oliver Perez (2003) and Steve Watkins (2004) for the Beavers’ single-game record since the team returned to the Pacific Coast League in 2001.

Brian Myrow belted a three-run home run, Will Venable had three hits and two RBIs, and Craig Stansberry doubled twice behind the 23-year-old LeBlanc, launching the Beavers to a 9-1 victory over the Sacramento River Cats at PGE Park.

LeBlanc (1-0) struck out six of the first eight batters he faced and limited the River Cats – the defending PCL and Triple-A champions – to one run, four hits and a walk in six innings of sharp work for his first victory above Class AA. The left-hander faced four batters over the minimum and sustained his only damage when Landon Powell hit a solo homer in the second that gave Sacramento (1-3) a short-lived lead.

Regarded as the No. 4 prospect in the San Diego Padres system, LeBlanc’s previous high for strikeouts in a game was 10, achieved four times during the 2007 campaign.

The Beavers (3-1) racked up a season-high 14 hits, with five players logging multi-hit nights.

Another pitcher making his Triple-A debut, Jason Fernandez – called up Monday morning from Class A Stockton for an emergency start – gave the River Cats two innings in his first appearance above the Class A level. Fernandez (0-1) yielded a pair of runs and four hits but managed to work out of a bases-loaded jam and limit the Beavers to two runs in the bottom of the second.

Down by a run in the second, the Beavers got a leadoff single from Nick Hundley and a double from Jody Gerut, playing his first game since being optioned from San Diego on Saturday. Two batters later, Venable delivered a two-run single to left that gave the Beavers the lead. Portland eventually loaded the bases, but Fernandez coaxed an inning-ending grounder to keep it a one-run game.

In the fourth, Matt Antonelli reached on a two-out walk and Stansberry added an RBI double to left-center to extend Portland’s lead to 3-1.

Portland broke open things in the seventh, sending 10 men to the plate and getting a three-run homer from Myrow off Jerry Blevins and a RBI single from Luis Rodriguez to extend the lead to 7-1.

The Beavers added to the margin with a pair of runs in the eighth.

NOTES: LeBlanc threw 88 pitches, 61 for strikes. Of his 11 strikeouts, five were looking and six were swinging. LeBlanc surpassed 200 strikeouts for his career with his effort Monday night … Hundley has hit safely in each of his first three Triple-A games … Sacramento used five pitchers … Myrow’s home run was his 14th as a Beaver (two seasons).

Source: Portland Beavers

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