CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Frederick's Jacobson Walks Four in Decisive Tenth Inning

August 23, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - On a night when the Pelicans honored the contributions of Latin Americans to baseball, it was the Pelican with the longest road from Latin America to the fields of the American minors who sent the Birds home winners in walk-off fashion over the Frederick Keys.

Donell Linares singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth to score the game-winning run and complete a 4-3 come-from-behind victory in the series finale of three with the Keys in front of 3,316 fans at BB&T Coastal Field.

After early offense on both sides, the bats fell silent for the Keys and Pelicans leading to extras. For the fourth straight game, the Pelicans gained the upper hand first, this time with an RBI single by Randy Gress scoring Jon Mark Owings in the third. Frederick rebounded in the top of the fourth, however, when Bobby Stevens followed a one-out Matt Tucker walk with his sixth homer of the season, a two-run shot to give the Keys the lead. Myrtle Beach didn't wait long to pull back even with Linares socking the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth over Land Shark Landing to even the score at 2-2.

Frederick and Myrtle Beach arms combined to shut out each other's offenses for the next five frames. Each team's starter worked six innings with the Keys' Rick Zagone allowing both Pelicans runs earned on four hits, striking out six without a walk. Myrtle Beach's Edgar Osuna surrendered two earned while scattering seven hits, picking up five strikeouts and one walk.

Though each team got the would-be game-winning run to scoring position in the ninth, neither could capitalize, and the game went tied at two to the tenth. With reliever Brandon Beachy (4-3) on to work for the Pelicans, Tucker worked a one-out walk, went to second on a Stevens single and scored on a base hit by Billy Rowell to give Frederick a 3-2 lead going to the bottom of the tenth.

The Keys trotted out reliever Brett Jacobson (0-2) out for his second frame of work in the tenth, but the right-hander, recently acquired from the Detroit Tigers organization, saw his control abandon him. Jacobson walked leadoff man Jon Mark Owings on four pitches before recording a strikeout of Chris Anderson, but not before a wild pitch sent Owings to second. Pelicans manager Rocket Wheeler lifted C.J. Lee in favor of pinch-hitter Cody Johnson, the Carolina League home run leader providing a scary left-handed bat off the bench. Johnson's bat didn't need to leave his shoulder as he walked, with yet another wild pitch in the at-bat moving Owings to third. Michael Fisher did the same, working the count full before taking ball four to bring home the tying run. The fourth walk of the inning set the stage for Linares who took a Jacobson fastball through the hole on the left side of a drawn-in Keys infield into left for the victory.

The Pelicans' win keeps Myrtle Beach in the hunt in the Carolina League Southern Division. But the night must feel a little sweeter for Linares, the oldest Pelican and the one who has been through the most to be here. A Havana, Cuba native, Linares defected from his native land in 2005 and was arrested and threatened with deportation from the Dominican Republic while trying to establish residency there in 2006. In this, his second year of professional ball in the U.S., Linares is batting .291 and gave the Pelicans a series victory over Frederick while his team sported special yellow "Los Pelicanos" jerseys on Fiesta del Beisbol Night, an evening to honor Latin Americans in baseball.

Following the series win, the Pelicans' homestand continues with the first of four games against the Potomac Nationals tomorrow night. Tickets are available through the Pelicans box office at BB&T Coastal Field, by phone at (843)918-6000 or by visiting the Tickets page at MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.

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Carolina League Stories from August 23, 2009


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