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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans Game Notes: August 20 vs. Carolina

August 20, 2019 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


Today, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans start their final home series of the season today, a three-game set against the Carolina Mudcats (a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate) with the first game of the series beginning at 7:05 p.m. This evening, LHP Brailyn Marquez (2-0, 0.00 ERA) starts for Myrtle Beach against RHP Christian Taugner (5-8, 4.83 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app.

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PELICANS SWEEP TWIN BILL OVER RED SOX ON SUNDAY

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans swept the Salem Red Sox on Sunday in a doubleheader, winning the first game 3-1 and the finale 5-4 in walk-off fashion from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. In the opener, the Pelicans fell behind 1-0 in the first on a sacrifice fly, but Luke Reynolds bashed a two-run homer in the fourth, highlighting a three-run frame, and the Birds went on to take the first contest. In the last game of the day, once again, the Birds found themselves back 4-2 when Miguel Amaya, down to the final strike of the game in the seventh, laced a two-run, game-tying double. In the bottom of the eighth, Carlos Sepulveda lifted the Birds to a 5-4 win with a walk-off single to left. The Birds' bullpen was the highlight of the day, not allowing a run over seven innings of work.

MY OH AMAYA

Miguel Amaya has been a hot hitter for the Pelicans over the last month. After hitting just .217/.353/.361 with five homers in the first half of the season (49 games), he is hitting a strong .261/.381/.457 with five home runs in the second half of the season (41 games). His second half OPS (.837) is 123 points higher than his first-half OPS (.714). Since July 4, Amaya is hitting .302/.433/.521 with nine doubles, four home runs, 23 RBIs and 19 BB compared to 15 strikeouts in a span of 29 games. The Pelicans catcher is within two long balls of his career-best 12 he hit with Low-A South Bend in 2018. In 2018, his second-half OPS (.634) was much lower than his first half mark (.865). Defensively, Amaya also has the MiLB lead with caught-stealings (45).

BACK IN THE FRIENDLY CONFINES

Inside the pitcher-friendly TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark, the Birds have been an entirely different team than when they are on the road. At home, the Pelicans own the third-best ERA in the league (3.50), while they are last (10th) in road ERA (4.78) in the Carolina League. Their road slashline of .238/.326/.356 is also much better than home games: .219/.312/.321. The Birds have hit 32 home runs at home and allowed 41 while they have hit 36 homers on the road in 11 fewer games and allowed a league-worst 47 road blasts.

WHEN THE RED SIGN IS FLASHING, DO NOT WALK

The Pelicans pitching staff has not given up many free passes over the last few games. As a team, Myrtle Beach arms have just walked 14 batters over their last 9 games (1.6 per game) and have not walked a single batter four times in that span. On the year, when walking three or fewer, the Birds are 40-41, much better than their overall record of 50-73.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

Another key has been the bullpen, which has just walked eight batters over their last nine games. When the bullpen is on, so are the Pelicans, as they are 31-16 when the bullpen does not allow any runs. The bullpen has been dominant in general, not allowing a run over their last 13 innings (spanning their last four games) and over their last eight games, the 'pen has a 0.44 ERA (1 ER over 20.1 IP) and a 0.76 ERA in their last 23.2 IP. Ethan Roberts has thrown 17.2 consecutive-scoreless innings out of the backend of the bullpen. Over that stretch, he has whiffed 18 batters and only walked one. Opponents are just hitting .197 against him while he owns a 0.78 WHIP in those games.

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER?

The Pelicans are 2.0 games back of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers for second place in the Southern Division as of Tuesday. If the season were to end today, the Woodpeckers would be in the playoffs and they also hold the head-to-head lead over the Pelicans. Winston-Salem is 1.5 games back of the Pelicans and 3.5 back of the Woodpeckers. The Pelicans have captured the season series against the Dash while Winston-Salem lost the season series with Fayetteville. Fayetteville, which was Buies Creek last season, won the Mills Cup title in 2018 in a one-game, hurricane-shortened series.

HEAD-TO-HEAD AGAINST CAROLINA

The Pelicans and Mudcats have split 12 meetings against each other this season. The Pelicans have hit just three home runs over the 12 games while Carolina has bashed 11 long balls. Mario Feliciano alone has hit five home runs against Pelicans pitching while hitting .425/.452/.900 over 10 games with 13 RBIs. On the Pelicans side, Aramis Ademan is hitting .500 (11-for-22) against the Mudcats and Grant Fennell has hit .409 (9-for-22) in his six games.

PELICAN POINTS

The Pelicans only have three home games left on the season. They will finish the season with an 11-game road trip, featuring three games against Salem, four at Potomac and a season-finishing series at Wilmington...Today's starter, Brailyn Marquez, has thrown 24.1 straight innings without allowing a run, spanning over his last five starts. During his time with the Pelicans, Marquez has thrown 10.0 innings, ceding just three hits while striking out eight batters in a pair of wins against Winston-Salem and Potomac.

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