Stingers blow lead, game

Just when it looked like the Salt Lake Stingers would walk away with a win on Sunday, it was Ramon Vazquez who provided the walk-off home run that gave the Portland Beavers a 9-8 victory in a game they once trailed 7-0.

Portland was down 8-6 in the ninth when Ben Risinger led off against Salt Lake reliever Derrick Turnbow with a solo homer to center that just eluded the outstretched glove of Zach Sorensen.

J.J. Furmaniak followed with a single to left and he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Freddy Guzman. Vazquez then drilled a 2-1 pitch from Turnbow (2-6) over the right-field wall for the game winner.

Vazquez had pulled the Beavers to within two runs in the seventh with a three-run homer off Brandon Emanuel that hit the foul pole in right field. That capped off a four-run seventh inning in which all four runs were unearned. They were set up by a throwing error by pitcher Brandon Emanuel. The two teams exchanged solo homers in the eighth, Alex Pelaez for the Stingers and Yamid Haad for Portland.

Eddie Oropesa (3-1) tossed the final two innings and allowed one run on two hits for the win.

Salt Lake built its 7-0 lead on a first-inning run-scoring triple by Shane Halter, a solo homer by Brian Gordon and a three-run shot by Adam Riggs in the second, a sacrifice fly by Casey Kotchman in the fifth and an RBI grounder by Wil Nieves in the sixth.

Stingers starter Scott Dunn was their most effective pitcher, as he tossed four shutout innings with eight strikeouts and allowed just one hit.

NOTES: The loss was the franchise record 76th for the Stingers this season, but their first when leading on the road after eight innings. They had been 17-0 . . . Adam Riggs' first-inning single extended his hitting streak to 11 games . . . Portland hit five home runs in the final four innings of the game . . . Andres Galarraga grounded into an inning-ending double play as a pinch hitter in the eighth. He is now 0-for-10 in Portland.

• Key inning: Portland got back into the game with four unearned runs in the seventh inning.

• Key stat: Five of the Beavers' nine hits were homers.

• Top performance: Portland's Ramon Vazquez went 2-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs.

• Record: 45-76, last in the Northern Division, 23.5 back

• Up next: Today at Portland, 8:05 p.m.

• Next home series: Aug. 17-20 vs. Edmonton

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