CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans: Game Notes, July 14 at Down East

Published on July 14, 2018 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


The Myrtle Beach Pelicans look for their fourth straight win in Saturday's 6 p.m. contest at the Down East Wood Ducks. LHP Bryan Hudson (5-7, 5.27 ERA) pitches for the Birds against Wood Ducks RHP Jason Bahr (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.

BIRDS HOLD OFF DOWN EAST IN 3-2 WIN

The Down East Wood Ducks stranded 15 base runners Friday as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans took the series opener 3-2 from Grainger Stadium. The Wood Ducks opened up the scoring on Alex Kowalczyk's sacrifice fly in the first inning. In the fourth, an error and Roberto Caro RBI single gave Myrtle Beach a 2-1 lead. In the sixth, Aramis Ademan doubled to lead off the frame. He stole third and came home on an error to make it 3-1. The score remained that way until the ninth inning. Down East cashed in a run on Chuck LeBlanc's RBI single before loading the bases with one out. Jhon Romero struck out Josh Altmann and got Melvin Novoa to pop out to seal a 3-2 victory and pick up his eighth save.

HOW THE TURNTABLES... HAVE TURNED

Cory Abbott tossed 5.0 innings of one-run ball in Thursday's 3-2 victory over Down East, continuing a sudden trend of strong starting pitching for Myrtle Beach. Over the last 14 games, Pelicans starters have worked 69.2 innings, yielding only 18 runs, all earned, on 51 hits (6.6 H/9) for a 2.33 ERA. The Birds' starting staff has compiled 61 strikeouts against 30 walks over this span. In the seven games prior to this run, Myrtle Beach starters had posted an ugly 7.62 ERA thanks to 27 runs, 24 earned, on 39 hits (12.4 H/9) in 28.1 innings (30 K, 13 BB).

HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL

Myrtle Beach left-hander Bryan Hudson starts in Saturday's game at Down East. The Godfrey, Ill., native has made three starts against the Wood Ducks this season, going 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in 16.0 innings (11 H, 4 BB, 16 K). Over his last four outings, Hudson has pitched to a 3.86 ERA.

CONNECT FOUR

Thanks to a staff that ranks at or near the top of the Carolina League in nearly every single pitching category, the Pelicans do not necessarily need to score a plethora of runs to win games. Sure enough, when Myrtle Beach plates at least four tallies in a game, the Birds have a 33-9 (.786) record. This success has been exemplified of late; In the 67 games since May 11, the Pelicans have pitched well, posting a collective 3.35 ERA (491.1 IP, 413 H, 7.6 H/9, 215 R, 183 ER). Myrtle Beach has scored at least four runs in 25 of those contests, and the Birds are 23-2 (.920) in those games.

THE BETTER BIRD

The only Southern Division club Myrtle Beach has a winning record against this season is Down East. The Pelicans are 10-5 against their division rivals, but a remarkable amount of the clubs' battles have been nail-biters. Of the 15 meetings between the Birds and Wood Ducks this season, 10 have been decided by three runs or less, including six of their last seven games. Myrtle Beach and Down East are each 5-5 in these narrowly-decided contests. Thus, the five Wood Ducks wins against the Pelicans have come by a combined nine runs. The Birds have outscored Down East 90-60 so far in the season series.

BIRDS ON THE POND

The Pelicans were just 5-for-31 (.161) with runners in scoring position to strand a combined 26 runners on Sunday and Monday. However, the Birds are 12-for-32 (.375) with men on second and/or third over the last three games, padding their numbers in their best hitting situation on the season. Myrtle Beach is batting .252/.331/.348 (.679 OPS) with runners in scoring position this year, which, while not overly impressive, is far better than their line of .232/.307/.325 (.632 OPS) in all other situations. The good news, or potentially bad news, for the Pelicans is that nearly every team at every level across baseball posts similar batting lines regardless of situation.

ONE LOVE

On June 10, Myrtle Beach edged Salem 4-3 for the Pelicans' ninth straight win. That brought the Birds' record in one-run games to a sterling 10-3, the best mark at the time in the Carolina League. However, records in one-run games are mostly correlated with luck and timing, and it is extremely rare for squads to sustain success in these narrow contests over the course of a season. Thus, in nearly every single level across the history of baseball, almost every club posts records in one-run contests at or near .500. Sure enough, Myrtle Beach lost their next six one-run games until last night, when the Birds narrowly clipped the Wood Ducks by a score of 3-2.

PELICAN POINT

Myrtle Beach is out of fifth place for the first time since June 24, the fourth day of the second half.

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