CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Birds nearly squander 10-2 lead, hang on to beat Keys 11-10

April 30, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, SC - That sound you heard was a huge sigh of relief from BB&T Coastal Field. The Pelicans, leading 10-2 in the sixth, held off a furious comeback by the Frederick Keys, stranding the tying run at third in the ninth to finish a raucous 11-10 win on Saturday. The Birds snapped their three-game losing streak, but it wasn't nearly as easy as it seemed it would be in the third inning.

The Keys almost came all the way back in the eighth when Tyler Townsend roped a single to left to bring in Kyle Hudson and it looked like LJ Hoes would score as well to tie the game. But Ryan Strausborger unleashed a tremendous throw to catcher Vinny DiFazio who laid down the tag to preserve the lead. The Keys put the tying run on in the ninth when Tyler Kolodny singled and pinch-runner Bobby Stevens stole second and went to third on defensive indifference. Johan Yan buckled down to strike out Luis Bernardo to end the Pelicans' craziest game of the 2011 season.

Myrtle Beach jumped all over Keys' starter Jacob Rasner, sending ten men to the plate in a five-run second inning. Jared Bolden broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run double, then Strausborger hit his second double in as many innings to bring in two more. In the next inning they piled on with four more runs as nine Pelicans came to the plate. The outburst was highlighted by another two-run bases-loaded double by Bolden, and after three innings, the Birds led 10-2.

That knocked out Rasner (1-2), who was tattooed for ten runs, six earned, in two-plus innings. He allowed eight hits and walked two without striking out a batter, his ERA ballooned to 10.26

Justin Moore and Will Startup calmed things down out of the bullpen, going three innings apiece and allowing just one run the rest of the way. That gave Frederick a chance to get back in the game.

Starter Ryan Kelly shook off a pair of early runs and settled in through five innings. He hit a wall in the sixth as he gave up a two-run home run to Hoes and a two-run single to Bernardo to halve the lead to 10-6. Kelly (1-1) was removed for Chad Bell, who finished the sixth, but gave up two more runs in the seventh as the Keys cut it to 10-8.

The Birds picked up a huge insurance run in the bottom of the seventh off Startup when Strausborger hit his third double of the game, then moved to third on a Leury Garcia sacrifice and scored on a fielder's choice. That run loomed large when Yan nearly gave up the lead in the eighth. Strausborger got him off the hook with his outfield assist, then singled in his last at bat for his second four-hit night of the season. Yan made it a heart-stopper in the ninth, but locked down the win to notch his first save.

Every Pelican reached base in the 11-run onslaught, the only one who didn't was Garcia, who saw his eight-game hit streak come to an end. The best production was out of the nine and one spots in the lineup, with Bolden's two doubles and four RBI's and Strausborger's four hits and three runs scored.

The Pelicans and Keys will play the rubber game of the weekend series with a Sunday afternoon contest to wrap up the seven-game homestand at BB&T Coastal Field. Robbie Erlin, coming off his Monday masterpiece against Potomac, faces fellow southpaw Nathan Moreau with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m.

Tickets for all Pelicans home games are available at the BB&T Coastal Field box office, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, and by phone at 843-918-6000 or 877-918-TIXX.

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Carolina League Stories from April 30, 2011


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