CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans: Game Notes, July 7 at Buies Creek

Published on July 7, 2018 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


The Myrtle Beach Pelicans look to bounce back from an 11-0 loss at the Buies Creek Astros in Saturday's 5 pm. contest. LHP Bryan Hudson (4-7, 5.46 ERA) squares off with Buies Creek LHP Brett Adcock (5-3, 2.88 ERA). Coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app.

MYRTLE BEACH SHUT OUT 11-0 AT BUIES CREEK

The Buies Creek Astros jumped on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans early on Friday to roll 11-0 at Jim Perry Stadium. With a man on first and no outs in the bottom of the first, the game was paused for a 52-minute rain delay. Upon resumption, Birds starter Erich Uelmen and Astros starter Brady Rodgers were removed from the game. Buies Creek tallied six runs in the first inning to get out to a huge lead. The Astros then added five more runs in the third inning to go up 11-0. That was more than enough for Buies Creek reliever Brandon Bailey, who fired six scoreless innings with six strikeouts to earn the win. Jesus Balaguer pitched the final two shutout innings to finish off the blanking of Myrtle Beach. Aramis Ademan and Kevonte Mitchell each recorded multi-hit games in the loss.

POWER OUTAGE

From the 2014 through 2017 seasons, Myrtle Beach finished every campaign in the top half of the Carolina League in home runs. In fact, the Pelicans clubbed a total of 368 long balls, an average of 92 per year. However, with just 34 homers on their ledger through 86 games, the Birds are on pace for just 55 bombs in 2018, which would be the fewest in a single season in Pelicans history (64 home runs, 2013). Entering play on Saturday, Myrtle Beach has gone 17 games in a row without hitting a dinger, their longest drought of the season. D.J. Wilson's leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning in game two of a doubleheader on June 16 was the Birds' last roundtripper, meaning the club's homerless drought extends 144 innings and 21 days. The 1924

Washington Senators went 40 consecutive games without a home run, the single-season major league record.

FOUR IS A MAGIC NUMBER

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 30-8 (.789) record. This success has been exemplified of late; In the 62 games since May 11, the Pelicans have pitched well, posting a collective 3.40 ERA (437.1 IP, 366 H, 7.5 H/9, 194 R, 165 ER). Myrtle Beach has scored at least four runs in 21 of those contests, and the Birds are 20-1 (.952) in those games.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

A fairly common opponent for Myrtle Beach, the Houston Astros-affiliated Buies Creek Astros had battled the Birds to a draw through the first 36 meetings in the clubs' all-time series. However, after Friday's 11-0 win by Buies Creek, the Astros have now taken eight consecutive games against the Pelicans, outscoring the Birds 45-9 in the process. In Myrtle Beach's recorded history, which dates back through the 2005 season, the Pelicans had never suffered even a seven-game skid against one opponent until this run against Buies Creek.

LESS IS MORE

As Bryan Hudson prepared to start Saturday's contest in Buies Creek, the southpaw looks to continue a sudden trend of outstanding starting pitching for Myrtle Beach. Over the last eight games, Pelicans starters have worked 38.2 innings, yielding only five runs, all earned, on 23 hits for a 1.16 ERA. At one point during this stretch, the Birds' starting rotation went 27.2 innings in a row without surrendering a run.

WHEN THE REGRESSION MONSTER BITES

Following a 4-3 win over Salem on June 10, Myrtle Beach boasted a 10-3 record in one-run games, the best such mark 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, the regression monster has come back to bite the Birds. The Pelicans have played five games decided by one run since June 10 and lost all of them, dropping their record to 10-8 in one-run affairs.

PELICAN POINTS

P.J. Higgins has reached base in eight of his last 12 plate appearances, going 6-for-10 with two doubles and three RBIs during that span... Infielder Jared Young has been assigned to Myrtle Beach from Low-A South Bend. Young slashed .313/.368/.525 with 13 doubles, six triples, 10 home runs and 53 RBIs in 69 games with South Bend and also earned the Cubs' Minor League Player of the Month award for June by batting .340 with five homers and 27 RBIs.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from July 7, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central