Clayton Mortensen Named PCL Pitcher of the Week

ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Pacific Coast League office announced today that Clayton Mortensen of the Omaha Storm Chasers and Juan Ciriaco of the Fresno Grizzlies have been named PCL Pitcher and Player of the Week for June 2^nd -8^th. Mortensen is the second Storm Chaser to win a weekly award during the 2014 season, as Jimmy Paredes was named Player of the Week for May 12^th-18^th.

Clayton Mortensen pitched 11 scoreless innings last week and allowed only eight batters to reach base in 40 plate appearances. The right-hander walked just two batters in two games, while his 12 strikeouts tied him for the second most in the PCL for the week. In his June 2^nd start at Round Rock, he tossed six shutout innings with six strikeouts to earn his first win of the season. The Idaho native's next appearance came on June 8^th as a reliever against Oklahoma City. Mortensen kept the RedHawks in check for the final five innings of the game, while adding another six strikeouts. After starting 2014 on the disabled list, he has yet to surrender a run in 16 innings.

Mortensen, 29, was a first-round draft pick (36^th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007 out of Gonzaga University. He has pitched in 74 major league games in his career, most recently with the Boston Red Sox in June 2013. The Red Sox traded him to the Kansas City Royals' organization on Aug. 27, 2013, in exchange for Quintin Berry. Mortensen has now won two Pitcher of the Week accolades in his career, with the previous coming in 2008 as a Springfield Cardinal in the Texas League.

Juan Ciriaco's split of .632/.682/1.421 was the best in each category in the PCL last week and his 12 hits were the second most in the league. He scored a PCL-high eight runs, while his three home runs were second-best. Ciriaco took the field at four different positions during the week, helping the Grizzlies to a 4-2 record in six games. Ciriaco was used a pinch-hitter on June 5^th and came through with a ninth-inning home run in the Grizzlies' 9-4 win at Las Vegas. The following day, he recorded his first five-hit game since 2006, which included a Fresno single-game record four doubles. The 30-year-old belted his fifth home run of the season during a three-hit game in the series finale against the 51s on June 8^th.

Ciriaco began his professional career in 2003, after the San Diego Padres signed him as an international free agent from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He spent five seasons in the Padres' farm system before the San Francisco Giants selected him in the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 6, 2007. The Player of the Week award is Ciriaco's first since July 23, 2007 when he was a member of the Lake Elsinore Storm in the California League.