Myrtle Beach Pelicans Game Notes: August 9 vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks
August 9, 2019 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release
Today, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans continue a six-game homestand and begin a three-game set against the Wilmington Blue Rocks (a Kansas City Royals affiliate) with the first game of the series beginning at 7:05 p.m. This evening, RHP Jeffrey Passantino (1-0, 1.89 ERA) starts for Myrtle Beach against LHP Marcelo Martinez (5-7, 4.37 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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ZOBRIST HOMERS, PELICANS FALL IN WILD GAME TO DASH
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans hit three homers, but ultimately came up short in a 8-7 loss to the Winston-Salem Dash on Thursday from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. Ben Zobrist made his first rehab start, going 1-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and two runs scored. Kevonte Mitchell crushed his team-best 12th homer and Miguel Amaya added his 10th blast of the season, a three-run shot in the fifth that pulled the Pelicans within one run, 8-7. Luke Reynolds had a big day at the plate as well, going 2-for-5 with a two-run double. Tyler Peyton and Chad Hockin combined to throw three scoreless frames out of the bullpen.
ZOBRIST REHABS WITH MYRTLE BEACH
The Chicago Cubs announced that 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist will continue his rehab assignment with the Pelicans on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Zobrist hit .357 (10-for-28) over seven World Series games and had the go-ahead, 10th-inning RBI double for the Cubs in the finale. Over his career, the three-time All-Star is a .266/.356/.426 hitter and has played every position except pitcher and catcher at the big league level. In his fourth year with Chicago, he was hitting .241/.343/.253 in his 26 games. Zobrist played in the Carolina League with the Salem Avalanche in 2005 as a member of the Houston Astros organization. On Thursday, he went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and two runs scored.
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 .271/.376/.475 with five home runs in the second half of the season (34 games). His second half OPS (.850) is 136 points higher than his first-half OPS (.714). Since July 4, Amaya is hitting .329/.441/.566 with six doubles, four home runs, 18 RBIs and 13 BB compared to 12 strikeouts in a span of 22 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).
USE THE FORCE, LUKE
Luke Reynolds has hit well in his first six games back in Myrtle Beach after playing in 22 games with Low-A South Bend. In his first 55 games of the season with the Pelicans, Reynolds hit just .190/.296/.288 and was sent down to South Bend. There, he slashed .260/.360/.390 and finished off his last six games by hitting .391 (9-for-23). He carried that success into his first six games with the Pelicans, hitting .400 (10-for-25) with three doubles, a home run, five RBIs, three runs and two walks.
SECOND YEAR IS THE CHARM
Infielder Wladimir Galindo has been productive offensively for the Pelicans recently. After going 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored on Wednesday, Galindo is now hitting .295 over his last 18 games with a .774 OPS. Last season, Galindo hit just .216 with a .589 OPS in 114 games. In 2017 with Low-A South Bend, the Venezuelan hit .290 with a .782 OPS before a broken leg cut his season short.
IT'S BEEN CLOSE WITH THE BLUE ROCKS
The Pelicans are just 1-6 against Wilmington this season, but they have been close in nearly every single game. Of the seven head-to-head meetings, only one (a 9-5 loss on June 3) was not decided by one run. Because of that, the Blue Rocks are only outscoring the Pelicans by an average score of 4.3-3.1 in those seven games. The games have been pitcher-dominated contests with the Birds hitting .230 and the Blue Rocks just hitting .227. Each team's OPS in the seven games is under .600 and the Pelicans have only hit one home run while Wilmington has two. One-run games have been common for the Blue Rocks, as they are 34-14 in one-run contests (52 percent of their wins, 42 percent of total games). The Birds are just 13-23 in games decided by a single tally (29 percent of their wins, 32 percent of total games).
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER?
The Pelicans are tied with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers for second place in the Southern Division as of Wednesday. If the season were to end today, the Woodpeckers would be in the playoffs because they hold the head-to-head lead over the Pelicans. Winston-Salem is just 1.5 games back of the Pelicans and Woodpeckers. The Pelicans have captured the season series against the Dash while Winston-Salem leads the season series over Fayetteville 7-6 with a three-game set against the Woodpeckers looming Friday-Sunday. There are 23 games left in the season.
PELICAN POINTS
The Pelicans lead the league in walks with 426 (3.7 per game). Cam Balego has been a master at drawing base on balls in the second half. Since July 9 (26 games), Balego leads all of baseball (Major and Minor Leagues) with 27 walks. After walking 19 times in 48 games in the first half, Balego has walked 33 times 45 games in the second half (1st half OBP: .347, 2nd half OBP: .417).
Carolina League Stories from August 9, 2019
- Late Mudcats Home Run Sinks Sox 6-4 - Salem Red Sox
- Sierra's Blast Lifts Fayetteville over Winston-Salem - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Feliciano and Lutz Power Mudcats in Series Opening 6-4 Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Hillcats Win Opener 6-4 in Extras - Potomac Nationals
- Hillcats Rock the P-Nats in the Tenth - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Dash Fall 6-2 in Series Opener against Woodpeckers - Winston-Salem Dash
- Zobrist Homers for Second-Straight Night, Birds Fall to Blue Rocks - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Wood Ducks Suffer Second Straight 1-0 Defeat - Down East Wood Ducks
- Peralta Dazzles as Keys Shut out Down East - Frederick Keys
- August 9 - Carolina Mudcats Game Information - Carolina Mudcats
- August 9 Game Information - Down East Wood Ducks
- Winston-Salem Dash: Game Notes (August 9 vs. Fayetteville) - Winston-Salem Dash
- Myrtle Beach Pelicans Game Notes: August 9 vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Etan Thomas Celebrity Autograph Signing Cancelled Due to Illness - Potomac Nationals
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