CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Pelicans Sneak Past Sox 4-3, Split Series 2-2

April 26, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


Salem, VA- After totaling only 13 hits during the first three games of the series, Myrtle Beach connected early and often on Sunday afternoon, finishing with 11 base knocks, jumping out to a 3-0 lead that set the table for their narrow 4-3 victory in front of 2,556 at Lewis-Gale Field. For the third straight day, the Pelicans received a masterful outing from their starter, as Carlos Rivas spun five scoreless innings. The Red Sox possessed baserunners in eight of the nine innings with eight hits and seven walks, yet only plated three runs on the afternoon.

Salem starter Kyle Weiland struggled in his fourth consecutive start, but minimized the damage as Myrtle Beach only gathered two runs, one earned, off Weiland in three innings. Many deep counts and long innings forced Weiland to throw 78 pitches in three innings, his second shortest outing of the season.

The Pelicans, scoring first in every game of the four-game series, used RBI singles from the eight and nine hitters, Cole Miles and Robert Marcial, to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Two frames later, the Pels added a run on Donell Linares' RBI single and led 3-0 after four. Linares and Marcial combined for six of the 11 Pelican base hits, while Miles went 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

The Myrtle Beach bullpen was handed the ballgame with a three run cushion in the sixth and immediately let the gap narrow. Following a leadoff walk by Jason Place and a single by Mike Jones, Luis Exposito knocked a deep fly ball to left for a sacrifice fly, making the score 3-1. Though Zak Farkes singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, Jered Stanley's inning-ending double-play halted the threat.

The Pelicans added an important insurance run in the eighth on another Linares RBI single that scored Marcial and made it 4-1, an essential tally considering the impending Red Sox rally in the bottom of the inning. Once again, Place and Jones started the inning with a hit and a walk to get things going. Pelican reliever Tyler Wilson then walked Luis Exposito to load the bases with nobody out. A Farkes sac fly brought the Sox within two, and a Stanley single made it a 4-3 game, but Tommy Palica replaced Wilson and retired the next two Red Sox to avert the comeback. Though Salem put another runner in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, the Sox went quietly as Place grounded to the pitcher and Jones struck out against Cory Gearrin, the sixth Pelican pitcher of the game. Gearrin earned his sixth save of the season, most impressive since it was only the seventh win for Myrtle Beach as a club.

The 10-8 Salem Sox, first in the Carolina League South by one game over Kinston and Winston-Salem, kick off a six-game road swing on Tuesday evening in the Tarheel State against the Indians. The Red Sox are expected to start lefthander Jose Capellan, while Kinston is scheduled to have righty Zach Putnam on the hill for the 7:05 start from Historic Grainger Stadium.

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Carolina League Stories from April 26, 2009


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