CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Late Replacement Pickens Lifts Tribe

Published on August 3, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


KINSTON, N.C. - Kinston catcher Doug Pickens got only two at-bats after entering Wednesday's midday tilt at Grainger Stadium as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning, but the backstop made both of them count. Pickens drove home two runs and scored one more, and the Indians edged the Pelicans 5-3 to set up a series finale rubber game in eastern North Carolina.

An inning after coming on behind the plate in place of starter Roberto Perez, Pickens got his first opportunity in the batter's box with a leadoff baserunner aboard and his Indians trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh. The University of Michigan product, who has received the lion's share of work lately with Perez fighting an oblique injury that landed him on the disabled list in mid-July, drove a double off the center field wall to score Tyler Cannon and draw the Indians even. Three batters later, Jeremy Casas returned the favor with an RBI base hit to score Pickens and give the Indians a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Looking for insurance in the eighth, it was Pickens again driving in pinch runner Justin Toole with a two-out RBI single to extend the K-Tribe's lead to its final margin. The Indians snapped a season-long eight-game losing streak with the 5-3 victory and moved back ahead of Myrtle Beach into sole possession of second place in the Carolina League Southern Division's second-half race.

In a seesaw affair, the Pelicans trailed 1-0 after the first before tying the game in the second. Myrtle Beach took brief leads of 2-1 and 3-2 going to the bottom of the fourth and seventh innings, but each time, Kinston responded with rallies first against starter Justin Grimm and later against reliever Ryan Kelly. Grimm lasted six innings and departed in line for the win after Myrtle Beach's tiebreaking run in the seventh. Kelly (3-6) surrendered both of the Indians' seventh-inning runs to surrender the lead and the game. Kinston scratched out its last tally against reliever Ryan Rodebaugh.

K-Tribe starter T.J. House was effective through six and two-thirds, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits. After his departure with a runner at first and two outs in the seventh, Kyle Landis (6-0) held the Pelicans at bay to earn the win. Myrtle Beach had eight hits on the day with second baseman Jonathan Roof the only hitless Pelican, but the Birds also left at least a single man on base in eight of nine offensive innings. The Pelicans went 0-for-13 as a unit with runners in scoring position.

Preston Guilmet (S, 27) pitched around a one-out Leury Garcia single to pick up the save in the ninth.

In the final regular season meeting ever between the Pelicans and Indians in Kinston, Myrtle Beach looks to pick up a series win with Thursday night's rubber game. The Birds will send lefty Chad Bell (2-0, 2.95), who will take over recently promoted Robbie Ross's spot in the rotation, against fellow lefty Mike Rayl (0-1, 5.40) with first pitch for the finale schedule for 6:30 p.m.

The Pelicans return home Friday to host the Potomac Nationals for the first three of a six-game homestand at BB&T Coastal Field. 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 August 3, 2011


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