CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Locke shuts down Sox as Birds roll

Published on May 1, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - For his second straight time on the mound, Myrtle Beach Pelicans left-hander Jeff Locke faced the Salem Red Sox, and for the second straight time, the Red Sox just couldn't quite figure him out.

Locke (1-1) spun seven dominant innings for his longest outing of the year, matching a season high for a Pelicans starter set one game earlier by Edgar Osuna, and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning for the second straight start. As he did back on April 25 in Salem, Locke kept the Red Sox off-balance all evening, mixing his pitches and not allowing a hit until Ryan Kalish singled to open the seventh. Locke got some help from his defense, most notably shortstop Chad Lundahl who made two sparkling plays on Kalish and Mike Jones for the second and third outs of the fourth inning and also from center fielder C.J. Lee whose diving effort on a Kris Negron blooper to center ended the sixth inning and kept the no-hit bid alive.

Cody Johnson supplied half of Myrtle Beach's offense with a monster solo home run to right-center field leading off the bottom of the second inning. The longball was Johnson's ninth of the year, a total that leads the Carolina League. Donell Linares led off the fourth inning with a single, and he scored on a one-out double by Jon Mark Owings who arrived in Myrtle Beach earlier in the day from Extended Spring Training and went 1-3 in his season debut. Red Sox starter Eammon Portice (1-2) was the tough-luck loser on the night, dropping his second loss of the season while allowing two runs on four hits over six innings of work.

After Kalish's single, Locke buckled down in the seventh, inducing a 5-4-3 double-play ball from Jones. The Center Conway, New Hampshire native then worked around a two-out double by Chih-Hsien Chiang and struck out Jered Stanley to end the threat and complete his night. In all, Locke earned the win with seven innings of two-hit ball, not allowing a run and striking out six against just two walks.

The Myrtle Beach bullpen worked the eighth and ninth innings to complete the win. Jaye Chapman walked the first two he faced in the eighth, but Eric Barrett bailed him out by retiring the side in order from there. Tommy Palica (S, 2) earned his second save with a perfect ninth, retiring Salem in order and striking out Chiang for the exclamation point on the win.

The Pelicans and Red Sox continue their three-game series tomorrow with the middle game of the set. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05. Tickets are still available by calling the Pelicans box office at (843)918-6000, stopping by the Pelicans ticket office at BB&T Coastal Field or by visiting the Tickets page at MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.

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Carolina League Stories from May 1, 2009


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