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Flashback: July in the Pacific Coast League

October 9, 2005
With the 2005 season in the books, MiLB.com takes a month-by-month look back at the biggest stories of the year in each league.

July 1 -- On the same day the Mariners sent him to Triple-A, Jose Lopez mashed a pair of three-run homers to lead the Tacoma Rainiers to a 9-0 victory over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Damian Moss and Clint Nageotte combined on Tacoma's league-leading 11th shutout.

July 1 -- New Orleans Zephyrs shortstop Josh Labandeira was one of two players suspended 15 games apiece for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

July 3 -- Conor Jackson smacked a walk-off home run as the Tucson Sidewinders defeated the Fresno Grizzlies, 7-6, to get back to the .500 mark. Jackson's blast came off reliever Jeremy Fikac.

July 4 -- Sacramento's Juan Cruz was named Pitcher of the Week. He went 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA in two starts, striking out 21 in 12 1/3 innings.

July 4 -- Tucson's Andy Green was named Offensive Player of the Week after batting .480 (12-for-25) and increasing his league-leading hit total to 112. He also scored 10 runs.

July 4 -- Matt Padgett had four hits, including a two-run homer, to lead Albuquerque to an 11-7 victory over Oklahoma before a record crowd of 14,744 at Isotopes Park.

July 5 -- Wiki Gonzalez went 4-for-4 with two of Tacoma's season-high eight doubles as the Rainiers clobbered the Portland Beavers, 8-3.

July 6 -- Gerald Laird went 4-for-6 with six RBIs as the RedHawks buried the Isotopes, 18-5. His grand slam quickly turned a close game into a rout, giving Oklahoma a 9-4 lead.

July 7 -- The Iowa Cubs get an unexpected addition with the demotion of Corey Patterson. The five-tool talent was slumping badly before he was sent down, with a .232 batting average, 11 homers and 24 RBIs.

July 9 -- John Rodriguez launched two home runs, including a grand slam, as the Memphis Redbirds outslugged the Isotopes, 12-10. The slam sparked a seven-run seventh inning.
Audio: J-Rod hits his fourth grand slam in a month

July 9 -- The Colorado Springs Sky Sox gave away nine cars in one of the more unusual promotions of the season. OK, so they were nine used cars, but they were all driven home. The best part about it? No haggling.

July's Players of the Week
Week of
July 4
July 11
July 18
July 25
 Offensive Player
 John Rodgriguez (MEM)
 Brian Dallimore (FRE)
 Aaron Guiel (OMA)
 Matt Diaz (OMA)
 Pitcher
 Chris Gissell (MEM)
 Juan Cruz (SAC)
 Justin Germano (POR)
 Kip Bouknight (NOZ)
Complete Players of the Week archive

July was a big month for Oklahoma's Gerald Laird, who had a four-hit night and was named Star of Stars at the Triple-A All-Star Game. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

July 10 -- Omaha Royals first baseman Justin Huber was named the MVP of the XM Satellite Futures Game at Comerica Park. His two-run double helped the World Team defeat the U.S. Team, 4-0.
Watch Huber's two-run double
Video: Futures Game wrap

July 11 -- Memphis' Chris Gissell was named Pitcher of the Week. He won his only start, going the distance for the first time in three years while allowing an unearned run on six hits against Omaha.

July 13 -- RedHawks catcher Gerald Laird crushed a grand slam and was named the PCL's Star of Stars in helping his team to an 11-5 victory over the International League at the Triple-A All-Star Game in Sacramento. Chris Gissell picked up Pitcher of the Game honors after earning the win.
Video: Conor Jackson ties the game at 1-1
Video: Laird's slam gives the PCL a 5-1 lead
Video: Jackson's defensive gem for the PCL
Video: Furmaniak not to be outdone on D
Video: Watson whacks one with wife watching

July 16 -- The Sky Sox and RiverCats set a PCL record for strikeouts in an extra-inning game with 36. Juan Cruz also set a Sacramento team mark for strikeouts in a game with 13 over seven innings. And the River Cats came up with another club record as their pitchers combined to fan 18 in the 2-1 win.

July 16 -- Brian Dallimore went 3-for-4 with three doubles and a season-high six RBIs to lead the Fresno Grizzlies over the Salt Lake Stingers, 10-5. Teammate Todd Linden was 4-for-4.

July 17 -- Jason Dubois blasted a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the Iowa Cubs come all the way back from a nine-run deficit to defeat the Royals, 11-10. Corey Patterson and Scott McClain homered in Iowa's seven-run sixth inning.
Audio: Dubois says 'bye-bye baseball'

July 18 -- Kyle Snyder retired the first 17 batters he faced and pitched Omaha to a 5-0 victory over Round Rock. Alex Eckelman spoiled Snyder's bid for a perfect game and a no-hitter with a two-out single in the sixth inning.

July 22 -- River Cats left fielder Freddie Bynum established a team record by extending his hitting streak to 19 games with a sixth-inning triple in a 7-6 victory over Tucson.

July 23 -- San Diego Padres third baseman Sean Burroughs was sent down to the Portland Beavers. He played for the Beavers in 2002 before being called up the Major Leagues. Burroughs was hitting .255 with a .302 slugging percentage at the time of the demotion.

July 23 -- Mike Thompson allowed one hit over seven innings in his Triple-A debut, leading the Beavers to a 6-1 victory over the Grizzlies. Adam Shabala got the only hit off Thompson, a fourth-inning single. J.J. Furmaniak went 4-for-5 with four runs scored for Portland.

July 23 -- Joe Saunders pitched a one-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader as the Stingers blanked the Las Vegas 51s, 4-0. In his second start following a promotion from Double-A, he allowed a leadoff double in the first inning. The one-hitter was the second of the season for Saunders, who pitched one for Arkansas on May 1.

July 25 -- Portland's Justin Germano was named Pitcher of the Week, although he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds organization a few days earlier. His final appearance for the Beavers was a four-hit shutout.

July 25 -- Omaha's Aaron Guiel was named Offensive Player of the Week after batting .407 (11-for-27) with five home runs and 10 RBIs. He homered twice and drove in five runs in an 11-10 victory over Round Rock.

July 27 -- The Arizona Diamondbacks promoted top prospect Conor Jackson. Arizona's top pick in the 2003 draft was batting .354 with eight homers, 70 RBIs and a PCL-leading 38 doubles at the time of the move.

July 27 -- Matt Diaz went 6-for-6 with three RBIs for the Royals in a 16-8 victory over the Beavers. It was Omaha's first six-hit game since Les Norman went 6-for-6 against Tacoma on June 8, 1999.