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Timberjacks take thrilling, 10-9 win It was precarious at best. But, hey, it was a win. Whether it was a spanking or a nail-biter, the Southern Oregon Timberjacks didn't really care Friday night. Northwest League home run leader Kirk Asche powered his 11th homer and Matt Howe added his sixth as the Timberjacks outlasted the Portland Rockies, 10-9, before 1,469 fans at Miles Field. The victory allowed the Timberjacks to push their Southern Division lead to four games over second-place Eugene, an 8-7 loser to Salem-Keizer in 10 innings. The Timberjacks cruised into the sixth inning with an 8-2 advantage before the Rockies caught on to former reliever Matt Gage (6-2), making just his second start of the campaign. Gage got two quick outs in the sixth before Justin Lincoln doubled in one run and Riccardo Mahoney cracked a three-run home run to left field to narrow the gap to 8-6. Mahoney went 100 at-bats without a home run before collecting his first against the Timberjacks on Thursday. Asche, who hammered a two-run homer in the first inning, got one of the runs back with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth. But Lincoln and Kevin Buford produced RBI singles in the eighth as the Rockies closed within 9-8. The Timberjacks then scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the eighth when Matt Forbes singled, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball. But it wasn't over. In the ninth, Portland's Chris Moore touched TJs reliever Bryan Mazur for a one-out double and was on third base when Dan Phillips launched a 382-foot shot to center field that Forbes hauled in just in front of the wall. The fly ball scored Moore to trim the lead to one, but Mazur nailed down his fourth save when he got Justin Hemme to ground out. Asche finished with three hits and four RBIs, while Mike Lockwood had three hits. Lockwood has hit safely in 21 of the past 24 games. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.