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TJs lose, fall from first place SALEM -- From Opening Night through 66 games the Southern Oregon Timberjacks stood atop the Northwest League's Southern Division standings. Now, with nine games left in the regular season, the Timberjacks are looking up at someone else. For the second night in a row, the Southern Oregon Timberjacks lost a heartbreaker to Salem-Keizer, falling 5-4 Sunday. The latest setback hurt just a little more. The Portland Rockies assumed a half-game lead over Southern Oregon with a 7-3 triumph at Eugene. Unlike Saturday's slugfest, where the two teams combined for 19 runs, Sunday's game started out rather mildly with each team scoring once in the first three innings. Second baseman, Ryan Luther gave the Volcanoes a 3-1 lead in the fourth with his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot to left. After Salem-Keizer added another run in the fifth, the Timberjacks tied it up in the eighth. Jason Clements led off the inning with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Center-fielder, Jamie Porter followed with a base-hit to score Clements, cutting the Volcanoe lead in half at 4-2. With one out, Mike Lockwood put the final runs on the board for Southern Oregon, spanking a two-run dinger to right field, tying things up at four. Things turned strange in the bottom half of the inning as Salem-Keizer scored eventual winning run. Joe Jester drew a one-out walk from Timberjack reliever, Alex Negrone. The Volcanoes would load the bases after a hits-batsman and an infield single by third-baseman Julio Cordido. Scott Daely blooped a little texas leaguer into shallow right which second-baseman Brad Henderson made a diving attempt at but couldn't quite make the catch. The base umpire called an infield fly rule, which would allow the runners to advance after the ball came down into play. Jester scored from third after the ball had hit the ground but the runner on second moved to third before Henderson's attempt on the ball occurred. Southern Oregon manager Greg Sparks argued that the run should not have counted because the man that now stood on third base should have been ruled out for not tagging, resulting in an inning-ending double play. The play stood, however, giving Salem-Keizer a 5-4 lead which they would not relinquish. The Timberjacks look to end their three game slide today at 7 p.m. in the final game of the series at Salem. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.