Pickles Leave 12 Runners On Base In 10-4 Loss To Knights
PORTLAND, Ore. (June 12, 2024) – The Portland Pickles (6-3) were unable to break the seal on offense against the defending WCL Champs Corvallis Knights (9-1) in Walker Stadium Tuesday night.The Pickles rallied in the fourth and fifth inning, but dropped game two of the series 10-4.
The Pickles saw their ninth different starter in the ninth game of the season tonight with left-hander Kenny Ishikawa getting the start on the bump. After five Corvallis runs in the first two frames, right-hander reliever Murphy Gienger (Northern Colorado) gave the Pickles a chance in the middle innings. Gienger threw a season high 5.1 innings, striking out seven batters, with two walks, and gave up just one hit.
The Pickles rallied in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to pull within one, but a five run eighth inning from the Knights led the way to a 10-4 victory and game two victory. The Pickles had a runner in scoring position in seven of nine innings in tonight’s contest, leaving 12 runners on base.
Three Pickles had multi-hit games: Patrick Keighran (San Francisco), Tyler Harries (San Francisco), and Nate Wood (South Alabama). Tanner Griffith (St. Marys) came into the game ranked sixth in the WCL with seven walks, added three more walks tonight and recorded a run.
Key Moments of the Game
In the first inning starting pitcher Ishikawa settled in after some early walks with a strikeout to limit the Knights' damage to two runs in the opening frame.
In the bottom of the first, the Pickles did not record a hit. However, three straight walks and a double steal forced a catcher throwing error to second and a run for the Pickles to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Top of the second saw the Knights pushed across three more runs to strengthen their 5-1 lead. In the fourth and fifth, Murphy Gienger (Northern Colorado) went three up and three down in both innings and put up multiple zeros on the Knights.
In the bottom of the fifth, a walk and a balk, advanced Tanner Griffith (St. Marys) and another runner to second for the second straight inning. Keighran would then collect his second hit of the game with a double down the left field line scoring Griffith to cut the lead 5-2. A wild pitch would then score Patrick Keighran (San Francisco) and advance Tony Otis (Pacific) for the second run of the inning. An Alex Overbay line out to right field would end the threat, but cut the Knights’ lead to two.
Singles from Nate Wood (South Alabama) and Chipper Beck (BYU) in the bottom of the sixth with one out gave the Pickles another chance to threaten the Knights’ lead. A Tyler Harries (San Francisco) single to right field would give the Pickles their fourth run of the game, but a double play would keep the Knights ahead by one.
In the bottom of the seventh, a bunt single from Tony Otis (Pacific) and an error from the Knights sent him to second with two outs. After a walk from Alex Overbay (UNLV), the Knights went to the pen with two outs. With runners on second and third, a strikeout would end the Pickles threat and keep the Knights 5-4 lead.
The top of the eighth saw a bunt single to start the inning, but a few wild pitches and a three run home run from the Knights pushed a five spot across in the eighth inning to take the 10-4 lead.
Next Up
The Portland Pickles will host the Corvallis Knights for game two of the series Thursday June 13th, at 7:05 PM.
Ticket Info: https://www.picklestickets.com/
