CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Johnson blasts Pelicans to split

Published on May 21, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Looking for a breakout offensive night seemingly all season long, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans turned to their most prolific slugger in 2009. Cody Johnson obliged.

Behind Johnson's two-homer day, the Pelicans earned a split of their four-game set with the Winston-Salem Dash by way of a 9-6 victory in the series finale. The Myrtle Beach left fielder drove in five runs as every member of the Pelicans lineup recorded at least one hit en route to the win.

Johnson powered a Myrtle Beach offensive attack that trailed 1-0 after one inning and 2-1 after two. With Jason Heyward aboard on a leadoff single and one out in the fourth, Johnson crushed his first longball of the night to left field to give the Pelicans their first lead of the evening. An inning later, after Winston-Salem tied things at three in the bottom of the fourth, Myrtle Beach started to pull away. A costly two-out error charged to Dash first baseman Jim Gallagher, who was unable to handle a Heyward ground ball, opened the door to three Pelicans runs. Two scored on Gallagher's miscue, and Heyward crossed home plate on a Freddie Freeman RBI double to open a 6-3 gap. In all, Myrtle Beach tallied six runs-three earned-on eight hits against Dash starter Levi Maxwell (0-7) before he exited after five.

The Dash struck back in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 6-5 on a two-run Dale Mollenhauer single. It was close as Winston-Salem would get.

Johnson dialed up his second jack of the night following back-to-back one-out singles by Heyward and Freeman in the seventh, working the count to 2-2 before depositing a Richard Brooks offering over the left field wall. The homer was Johnson's Carolina League-leading 15th of the season and marked his second multi-homer game of the year. No other Pelican has accomplished that feat. The Pelicans matched a season high in runs and set a new season high in hits with 16 in the victory.

Left-hander Richard Sullivan (1-1) earned his first win with the Pelicans in his fourth start of the year by allowing three runs-two earned-on five hits over five innings. Four Myrtle Beach relievers combined to keep the game out of reach with sidearmer Cory Gearrin earning his eighth save in 14 Pelicans wins.

The Pelicans open a six-game homestand Friday night with the first of three with the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Tickets for the homestand can be purchased by contacting the Pelicans box office at (843)918-6000 or by visiting the Tickets page at MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.

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Carolina League Stories from May 21, 2009


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