Catcher's tenth inning homer gives Myrtle Beach first road extra-innings win
July 9, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release
WILMINGTON, DE - Vinny DiFazio completed a late Pelicans comeback with a one-out solo shot homer in the top of the tenth to give Myrtle Beach a 7-6 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the first game of a three-game set Saturday night at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium.
A series opener that saw the Pelicans erase a first-inning deficit of 2-0 only to fall behind 6-2 at one point entered its final inning with Myrtle Beach in a 6-4 hole. For a Pelicans team that had never won a game in 2011 while trailing after eight (0-29) nor won a game in extra innings on the road (0-6), prospects looked bleak, especially after back-to-back strikeouts of Jared Hoying and Santiago Chirino followed a leadoff walk by David Paisano. Jared Bolden, Andres James, and Travis Adair followed with a double and two singles to draw even, however, and for the second time in four nights, the Pelicans rebounded from a two-run deficit in the ninth to tie a road contest.
Unlike Wednesday's series opener in Winston-Salem, however, the Birds wouldn't be denied on Saturday. DiFazio worked his tenth-inning at bat to a full count before unloading on a Ryan Dennick offering and sending it rocketing over the left-center field wall to break the 6-6 tie. The homer, DiFazio's fourth of the season, sent Dennick (1-3) to the defeat, the only hit he allowed in one inning of relief.
Wilmington had leads of 2-0 on a two-run Carlo Testa jack in the bottom of the first inning and 6-2 on the strength of a three-run fourth and one more tally in the fifth. Myrtle Beach spot starter Kennil Gomez was roughed up to the tune of five runs, four earned, on six hits over four innings of work. Behind him, however, four Pelicans relievers, including Ryan Kelly and the Carolina League debut of recently promoted Ryan Rodebaugh, held the line. Kelly allowed a run in two innings of work while Rodebaugh surrendered one hit but struck out two in his lone frame. Meanwhile, Myrtle Beach scratched against the deficit with a run in the second, third, sixth, and seventh before the late game-winning outburst.
Johan Yan (5-3) pitched the eighth and ninth and held Wilmington at bay despite two walks and two hits, stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth after the Pelicans had tied it. Joe Ortiz (S, 4) retired the Wilmington side in order in the bottom of the tenth with a strikeout of Joey Lewis sealing the win.
From the top two places in the order, James and Adair went a combined 6-for-10 with a run scored and two batted in to lead the Pelicans' charge offensively. The win was Myrtle Beach's first in 30 tries this season in games in which they trailed after eight innings. It was also the Pelicans' first extra-innings road victory this year after going winless in their first six attempts and their first victory in four games at Frawley Stadium.
Saturday's win, Myrtle Beach's third in eight road games on a current ten-game swing, sets up a shot at a series victory in the remaining two games of this three-game set at Wilmington. Sunday, righty Barret Loux (8-3, 3.20) goes for his Carolina League-leading ninth victory against the Blue Rocks' Tyler Sample (5-6, 4.98) with first pitch for the daytime middle game scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Following this ten-game road trip, the Pelicans return home for the first of four with the Salem Red Sox at BB&T Coastal Field from July 13-16. 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.
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