CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

De Los Santos Deals as Offense Rebounds in Winston

Published on July 7, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


WINSTON-SALEM, VA - Miguel De Los Santos struck out eight Winston-Salem batters over five shutout frames, limiting the Dash to just two hits, and his offense shook off the frustration of their previous night's walk-off loss by converting more than enough offensive opportunities in an 8-2 win in the middle game of three Thursday night at BB&T Ballpark.

One evening after going an anemic 6-for-22 with runners in scoring position and leaving 16 men on-base, the Pelicans got after Winston-Salem early in the middle game. In the top half of the second inning, the first four men reached against Winston starter Andre Rienzo and all scored. After the fourth of those got on the bases, however, Rienzo's day ended. When Santiago Chirino drove an opposite-field double down the right-field line to score Vinny DiFazio and put Myrtle Beach up 2-0, Rienzo summoned his manager Julio Vinas and trainer Cory Barton from the first-base dugout. The right-hander immediately handed the ball off to his skipper and departed to the Winston-Salem clubhouse with an apparent injury.

The early run support would prove to be more than enough for De Los Santos. The lefty, whose first start in a Pelicans uniform five days ago lasted just four innings against the Lynchburg Hillcats after he allowed four runs in the first, turned a page in a roller-coaster 2011 season, flashing the form that has earned him a spot on the Texas Rangers' 40-man roster. De Los Santos (1-1) got more comfortable as the evening wore on, working around leadoff baserunners in the second, third, and fifth, striking out a pair in each of the latter two of those innings. Winston managed just two singles off him on the night.

With a 4-0 lead going into the third, Myrtle Beach wasn't content to let up after seeing a lead of that exact same score disappear one night earlier. Facing reliever J.R. Ballinger, pressed into action following Rienzo's (4-4) departure, the Birds got two more hits, doubles by Ryan Strausborger and Jared Bolden, along with a Vinny DiFazio hit-by-pitch and an error charged to Winston second baseman Dan Wagner, and turned it all into three more runs to take a 7-0 lead.

The Pelicans added another run against Winston-Salem reliever Santos Rodriguez in the sixth to go up 8-0 at the time. After their Wednesday struggles, the visitors were markedly better in pressure situations Thursday, going 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leaving just eight men aboard, half their total from the previous night. Eight of Myrtle Beach's nine in the lineup had at least one hit and the lone man who didn't, DiFazio, reached twice, once on a walk and once on his third-inning hit-by-pitch, and scored two runs.

Already trailing 8-0 the Dash got their only runs on the board when Tyler Saladino homered off Pelicans reliever Chad Bell following a two-out Dan Wagner in the seventh. Kasey Kiker worked a scoreless eighth, and Zach Osborne did the same in the ninth for the Pelicans.

After losing three of four games in Lynchburg to kick off this season-long ten-game road trip, the Pelicans can earn a series win over Winston-Salem with a victory in Friday night's series finale. Myrtle Beach righty Wilfredo Boscan (2-5, 4.57) gets the nod in the rubber game against Dash lefty Matt Wickswat (0-1, 3.57) with first pitch slated for 7:00 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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Carolina League Stories from July 7, 2011


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