With Portland's magic number down to 3 with 11 games left, manager Mons Raider stated today that the team will begin to rest and limit guys down the stretch with the post-season looming. With any combination of 3 Portland wins or 3 Sacramento losses (the two teams play each other 3 times over the next 3 days) then Portland would wrap up the Pacific Division and get a bye through the Geoghegan Series and into the Doubleday Series where they'd play a wild card winner. As a way to limit innings down the stretch and limit the possibility of injury to a key starting pitcher, Mons Raider stated today the team will being using a 6th starter.
"I know, anything could still happen, but I like our chances at this point to win the division" stated Raider. "So with that said, I want to limit the number of times our guys have to go out on the mound and have decided we'll use six starting pitchers the rest of the way. With that said, the first guy to take that extra start this week will be Ernie Mark.. Ernie has been up with the team since the start of roster expansion but I've yet to use him out of the bullpen. The games haven't dictated our ability to use him and keeping other guys sharp has still been our focus to this point. But since Mark had a great Triple-A season and hasn't pitched in a few weeks, I'm giving him the ball in that start."
As for when that start will be remained up in the air. Raider only stated it would be "this week" meaning he could start in one of the 3 remaining games versus Sacramento or in a game versus Valencia over the weekend.
As for whether he'd look to sit the starters if the team clinched this week, Raider stated "no, we won't completely bench them. At this point, most of the guys are scheduled to have 2 starts left. If we clinch early, I'll give them one more start rather than two. I want them each to take the mound next week before they have a lengthly layoff during the Geoghegan round.
The team completes the regular season next week with 4 games versus Valencia and 4 versus Vancouver. Ernie Mark went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA in 25 starts for the Triple-A Quincy Firedancers this season.