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Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes: 6:05 p.m. at Salem Red Sox - August 16, 2014

August 16, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


LAST TIME OUT: The Pelicans were knocked off 3-2 in extra- innings in their series opener against the Salem Red Sox on Friday.

The loss snapped a known franchise record-setting nine-game road winning streak. They have lost three of their last four games, and all three losses have come by one run...In his return to the starting rotation, VICTOR PAYANO put forth one of his best starts of the year.

The southpaw allowed only two hits over five innings; he walked just one, and fanned three. One of the two hits he allowed, however, was a home run, which opened the scoring...In a scoreless game in the third, Reed Gragnani went deep to left field off of Payano. The home run, a two-run shot, was the first of the year for Gragnani in his 82nd game and just the second home run of his career. The longball put the Sox ahead 2-0...The Pelicans responded in the next half inning. CHRIS GARIA and PRESTON BECK both walked off of Salem starter Cody Kukuk. With men at the corners, Garia scored on a wild pitch, which also moved Beck into scoring position. LEWIS BRINSON hit a ground ball up the middle that was knocked down by second baseman Dreily Guerrero, but Beck was able to score from second on the hit to tie the game at 2-2...The game was scoreless until the eleventh inning after that. The Pelicans collected just one hit the rest of the way, a one- out single from ROYCE BOLINGER in the sixth. They did, however, draw ten walks in the contest...After the third inning, the Red Sox did not have a runner in scoring position until the tenth. With two outs, Guerrero reached on a fielding error by CHRISTOPHER BOSTICK, one of three errors committed by the Pelicans on Friday. He then stole second but was thrown out at home trying to score the game-winning run on a single by Matty Johnson on the fourth outfield assist of the season for Lewis Brinson. The out ended the inning and extended the game to the twelfth frame...The Birds went 1-2-3 in the top half of the inning, and Salem ended it in the bottom half against ABEL DE LOS SANTOS. For the second straight inning, an error set up the Red Sox threat. With a man on, Edwin Garcia made a throwing error on a fielder's choice, allowing two to move into scoring position with no one out. De Los Santos got the first out on a dribbler in front of home plate off the bat of Jantzen Witte, but two pitches later, he uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Carlos Asuaje to score the game-winning run...

De Los Santos (5-1) suffered his first loss of the year, while Nate Reed (2-1) picked up the win.

THE THINNEST OF MARGINS: The Pelicans have lost three of their last four games, but all three losses have come by one run. In fact, four of the last five losses have come by one run and the lone other game was a two-run loss. Their five August losses have come by a combined six runs.

THE HITTING GAME WITHIN THE GAME: In each of the last four contests, the Pelicans have been outhit by the opposition. That marks the first time all year that the Birds have been outhit in four straight games. Myrtle Beach is hitting just .222 this month, second lowest in the league (Wilmington: .210), and their average for the year has dropped .259, good for only fifth in the league. The club has been in the top half of the league in hitting for the majority of the season. THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: Since a blown save in the homestand finale on August 3, the Pelicans bullpen has been lights out. In 35 2/3 innings, the pen has surrendered just three runs, two earned (0.50 ERA). The group also has 2 wins is 2/2 in saves chances.

PELICANS HISTORY X: The Pelicans finally had their franchise- long nine-game road winning streak snapped on Friday in the extra- innings defeat. The Pelicans have the best road record among full- season MiLB clubs (43-20) and need just one more road win, with six road games remaining, to set a new franchise record for the most road wins in a season.

FOURS FINALLY FALTER: When scoring four or more runs this season, the Pelicans are 65-13 while just 8-35 when scoring fewer, and the four-run mark has been even more significant of late. The Pelicans 6-5 loss in game two of the doubleheader on Wednesday marked the first time that the club has lost when scoring four or more runs since July 8 (now 15-1 during the stretch) when the team lost 13-9 at Winston-Salem.

FROM THE BEACH TO THE BIGS: The Rangers have promoted RHP JON EDWARDS to the big leagues, where he made his debut last night. He is the 131st Pelicans to play in the big leagues and the 120th to make his debut after his time in Myrtle Beach (six were MLB rehabbers, four previously played in the majors and made it back, and another, Ryan Drese, was a former big leaguer that did not make it back). Edwards is the eleventh former Pelican to make his MLB debut this season, joining ROUGNED ODOR, LUIS SARDINAS, NICK MARTINEZ, NEIL RAMIREZ, BEN ROWEN, ROMAN MENDEZ, KYLE HENDRICKS, MATT WEST, and ALEXANDER CLAUDIO.

2012 Pelicans right-hander WILMER FONT also did so. Edwards is a converted position player who spent five years in the Cardinals system as an outfielder.

A PERFECT FIRST IMPRESSION: JOSH MCELWEE fired another scoreless outing on Wednesday, adding 2 2/3 innings to his scoreless stretch to begin his 2014 Pelicans season, now at 19.2 IP. It's now the longest scoreless streak by a Pelicans pitcher this year, passing ANDREW FAULKNER's 18 consecutive shutout innings. McElwee has allowed just eight hits and nine walks in his 19.2 shutout frames and has struck out 25 batters. He fanned 14.25 batters per nine innings while in the South Atlantic League with the Hickory Crawdads before his July 18 promotion. He is fanning 11.44/9 IP in his time in the Carolina League thus far.

RUNNING WILD: CHRIS GARIA is alone in first on the single- season record list in team history in stolen bases (44), passing Adam Stern (40, 2002). The 44 steals is also career-high for the native of Willemstad, Curaçao. The mark leads the league lead and is tied for the tenth in the minors. The Carolina League record is held by Esex Snead, who stole 109 in 2000 with the Potomac Cannons (then a Cardinals affiliate). The Pelicans also lead the league in stolen bases as a team.

STRUTTING THEIR FEATHERS: The Pelicans roster currently features two players highlighted in Baseball America's list of the Rangers' Top 30 prospects. OF LEWIS BRINSON (No. 15 in the Rangers Top 30) and RHP JOSE LECLERC (16) are both listed by BA. Unranked in the top 30, CHRIS GARIA is the "Fastest Baserunner" and PRESTON BECK has the "Best Outfield Arm." CHRISTOPHER BOSTICK, traded from Oakland in December, was ranked No. 18 in the Athletics' top 30 by BA. Catcher JORGE ALFARO (2, 54 in the top 100), outfielder NICK WILLIAMS (3), third baseman JOEY GALLO (4, 60), RHPs ALEX "CHI CHI" GONZALEZ (5), and KEONE KELA (18) were all on the Pelicans' Opening Day Roster and are now with the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders, while LHP ALEXANDER CLAUDIO (27) is now in the Majors with the Texas Rangers.

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Carolina League Stories from August 16, 2014


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