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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Late Rally Carries Pelicans Past Blue Rocks

August 31, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


WILMINGTON, DE - For just the third time in 33 tries on the road, the Pelicans rallied to victory in a game they trailed after seven innings as Jared Prince and Chris McGuiness each doubled in runs to erase a 1-0 deficit and give Myrtle Beach a 2-1 Wednesday night win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium.

The Pelicans earned a chance to play for their first road series win since a three-game set at Salem June 26-28 with Wednesday's win, and it came on the strength of their eighth. Leury Garcia, hitless in his first nine at-bats since returning from the disabled list Tuesday night, laced a single to left field off Wilmington reliever Ryan Dennick and alertly then took second on Ryan Strausborger's flyout to deep left. Prince followed with a double crushed to the alleyway in left-center to score Garcia and draw the Pelicans even at 1-1. One batter later, Andrew Clark looked as if he'd move Prince over to third base with the inning's second out, but his grounder to first turned into another baserunner when Dennick dropped the flip of Wilmington first baseman Joey Lewis while covering the bag. With first and third and one gone, Zach Zaneski struck out, but the inning continued thanks to the error, and Chris McGuiness capitalized.

Like Garcia, McGuiness was hitless in nine tries in his return from the disabled list on Monday, but the Pelicans' first baseman yanked a double of his own down the right field line off Dennick to score Prince and give the Pelicans their first, and only, lead of the night. Dennick (3-7) retired Santiago Chirino as the next man up to close out the inning one batter too late.

A struggling Pelicans offense trying to break out of a second half-long slumber looked to be stuck in the same rut it's found itself in so much since the All-Star Break for the bulk of Wednesday's third game of four in Delaware. The Pelicans again got a strong effort from starting left-hander Chad Bell but again couldn't get him any support. Opposite Bell, Wilmington's Justin Marks stifled the Pelicans early on, stranding a man on in the Myrtle Beach first, two in the second, one more in the fourth, and two more in the sixth. Bell matched his fellow southpaw inning for inning until the sixth when Carlo Testa doubled to lead off, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a softly hit Ryan Stovall one-out liner to the right-field turf.

Each starter worked six innings. Bell allowed Wilmington's lone tally on four hits, striking out one while walking three in the no-decision. Marks struck out one, walked two, and didn't allow a run on five hits in his six frames.

After getting Bell off the hook with their first run in the eighth, the Pelicans got Zach Osborne (5-2) into the win column with their second. Osborne held the Blue Rocks down in the seventh inning by retiring the side in order, and Joe Ortiz followed by working the eighth in the same fashion. Left-hander Jimmy Reyes (S, 2) worked around Julio Rodriguez's two-out single in the ninth to close the door.

The Pelicans will get a shot at a series victory and a .500 road trip after dropping four of the first five on this eight-game swing Thursday night at Frawley Stadium. Myrtle Beach sends lefty Miguel De Los Santos (6-3, 3.59) against Wilmington right-hander Michael Mariot (8-4, 3.28) with first pitch for the 2011 finale between these two clubs slated for 6:35 p.m.

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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