CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Behind De Los Santos, Birds Rebound

Published on August 27, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Miguel De Los Santos rebounded from a rough outing six days ago to hold the Winston-Salem Dash to one run over six and two-thirds innings, and the Pelicans put up single tallies in three different frames en route to a 3-1 Saturday night win at BB&T Ballpark in Winston-Salem.

Though their offense didn't exactly break out of a funk that has plagued it throughout the second half of the 2011 season, the Pelicans got enough work done at the plate on Saturday to bounce back from an ugly doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Dash one night prior.

Leading off the top half of the third, after the lefty had retired six straight for Myrtle Beach, Pelicans' left fielder Jimmy Swift cranked his first Carolina League home run out to left field to stake the Birds to a 1-0 lead. Swift, playing left after outfielder Jared Prince was scratched from the starting lineup just an hour before first pitch, left the yard for the first time in his Carolina League stay and gave the Pelicans their first extra-base hit since Santiago Chirino's two-out double in the 12th Thursday night at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach.

De Los Santos, who allowed seven earned runs in three and a third against Kinston his last time out, got Myrtle Beach off on the right foot in the field, too, retiring the Dash nine-up, nine-down the first time through the Winston-Salem order.

The Pelicans added another run in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Zach Zaneski scoring Mike Olt, and, after Winston-Salem put together its only rally against De Los Santos for one run in the bottom half of the fourth, Myrtle Beach kept its distance.

De Los Santos (6-3) struck out nine while walking just one man over six and one-third innings. The lone run that came in against him scored on Ian Gac's two-out RBI double, one batter after Andy Wilkins singled. The Pelicans' southpaw faced just three over the minimum on the night, all three additional batters coming in Winston's fourth.

Myrtle Beach tacked on a run in the seventh when, after Zaneski's leadoff double was followed by two quick outs, Andres James came through with an RBI single to up the Pelicans' advantage to 3-1.

Ryan Kelly held the Myrtle Beach line with two innings of relief and, after serving up a two-out single to Gac in the ninth, gave way to Jimmy Reyes (S, 1) who dismissed Nick Ciolli with a looking strikeout to end the affair in the bottom of the ninth.

The win snapped a five-game Pelicans' slide against Winston-Salem and moved Myrtle Beach back to four and a half games behind the Dash in the Carolina League Southern Division second-half title chase.

Sunday's series finale pits Myrtle Beach right-hander Wilfredo Boscan (4-11, 4.34) against Dash righty Cameron Bayne (11-7, 3.46) with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 p.m. The Pelicans are slated to leave Winston-Salem Sunday night for a trip to Wilmington, Delaware, but with Hurricane Irene lashing the First State Saturday night into Sunday, and the Carolina League already having moved the Lynchburg-Kinston series from North Carolina to Virginia to compensate for the rain the storm unleashed on eastern N.C. this weekend, Myrtle Beach's plans still appear to be up in the air.

Tickets for all Pelicans home games can be purchased by visiting the BB&T Coastal Field box office, the Tickets page at MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, or by calling (843)918-6000 or (877)918-TIXX.




Carolina League Stories from August 27, 2011


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