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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Down to the Wire, Birds Drop Opener to Keys

August 21, 2015 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


FREDERICK, MD - On Friday night, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, were edged 4-3 by the Frederick Keys at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium. A potential Pelicans rally was cut short in the final frame when Chesny Young was thrown out on the base paths to end the game.

In the top of the ninth, Pin-Cheh Chen reached first to lead off the inning on a missed catch error by first baseman Yaisel Mederos. Daniel Lockhart moved Chen to second base with a sacrifice bunt, and reliever Cody Wheeler intentionally walked Young. With Ben Carhart at the plate, Wheeler attempted to pick Chen off at second base, but the throw went into center field, and as Chen moved to third, the would-be rally was quashed when Young was caught in a rundown and thrown out at first base to end the ballgame.

At the outset, the Pelicans fell behind early in Friday's series opener. Frederick (60-64, 28-26 second half) opened the scoring by using the longball against starter Jeremy Null to take a 3-0 lead. Shortstop Adrian Marin hammered a two-run home run to left field in the second, and catcher Wynston Sawyer went deep to left-center to lead off the fourth.

However Myrtle Beach (73-50, 32-22 second half) drew the game even with a three-spot in the top of the fifth. Trey Martin led off with a sharp single into left-center and was replaced by Chen as a pinch runner due to an apparent injury. Lockhart struck out before a walk and a double steal put two men into scoring position. Young drew a second base on balls, and with Ben Carhart batting, Chen put the Birds on the board when he scored on a wild pitch. Carhart added a run with a sacrifice fly to center, and the next batter, Mark Zagunis, lashed a game tying single to right field.

The Keys struck back in the bottom of the inning as left fielder Jay Gonzalez led off with a triple to center, and he came home by way of a sacrifice fly to put Frederick back in front for good, 4-3.

Null (2-2) went on to allow seven hits and four runs, all earned, in the loss. He struck out three and did not surrender a walk in 5.0 innings of work on the mound.

Keys starter Luis Gonzalez was lifted after Zagunis' game-tying single. The left-hander allowed three runs, all earned, on six hits while striking out six batters, one shy of his season-high. He took no decision in 4 2/3 innings of work.

The Pelicans bullpen combination of Tyler Ihrig and James Farris teamed up for three scoreless innings of relief. Each man surrendered a hit, with Ihrig fanning one batter and Farris striking out a pair.

Matt Taylor (2-2) allowed one hit in 1 1/3 innings of relief and picked up the win. Wheeler walked one and struck out a batter en route to converting his league-leading seventeenth save of the season.

The Winston-Salem Dash, who won on Friday night, moved 1 1/2 games in front of the Pelicans in the second half Southern Division standings with 16 games remaining for both clubs in the regular season.

The Birds and Keys square off on Saturday for a 6:00 p.m. ET first pitch at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium. Right-hander Paul Blackburn (6-5, 2.99) takes the mound for the Pelicans while the Keys give the ball to left-hander John Means (---, -.--).

The game can be heard live on 1450 WRNN-AM ESPN Myrtle Beach, on the TuneIn Radio App, and via the MiLB First Pitch App, beginning with the Pregame Show at 5:40 p.m. ET.

The Pelicans return home Monday, August 24, for the final homestand of the regular season, kicking off with a three-game series against Winston-Salem and wrapping up with four games versus Wilmington.

The 2015 season marks the 17th season for the Pelicans franchise and first as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2015, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail info@myrtlebeachpelicans.com, or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.

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