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Sox beat Brewers, draw even

Retherford, Gallagher homer early in 5-1 victory
September 9, 2007
C.J. Retherford and Jim Gallagher hit first-inning homers Sunday as the Great Falls White Sox defeated the Helena Brewers, 5-1, to tie the best-of-3 Pioneer League North Division Finals.

After Retherford led off the game with his first postseason roundtripper, Salvador Sanchez walked and Gallagher launched a two-run blast to give the White Sox a 3-0 lead.

Retherford, who led Great Falls with 13 homers during the regular season, is batting .435 with six home runs, 14 RBIs and 13 runs scored during a nine-game hitting streak.

Gallagher went 3-for-5, Christian Marrero stroked a pair of doubles and Greg Paiml chipped in a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the White Sox.

Great Falls starter Juan Moreno (1-0) gave up a run on five hits and a walk while striking out four in six innings. The 20-year-old right-hander went 6-4 with a 2.39 ERA during the season and was 3-0 with a 0.97 ERA in his final six starts.

Leroy Hunt fanned two over three scoreless frames to notch the save.

Jon Lucroy went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Brewers.

Helena starter R.J. Seidel (0-1) allowed three runs on three hits and four walks with a strikeout in one inning.

The Brewers host the decisive third game on Monday at 9:05 p.m. ET.

Shane Figueroa is a contributor to MLB.com.