CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans: Game Notes, June 26 vs. Buies Creek

Published on June 26, 2018 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


The Myrtle Beach Pelicans play a Tuesday doubleheader beginning at 5:05 p.m. against the Buies Creek Astros from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. RHP Tyson Miller (6-5, 3.64 ERA) pitches against Buies Creek RHP Brady Rodgers (0-0, 0.00 ERA) in the opener. The final pits LHP Bryan Hudson (4-6, 5.60 ERA) against Astros LHP Brett Adcock (3-3, 2.91 ERA). Coverage begins at 4:50 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.

PELICANS SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER IN LYNCHBURG

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans split a doubleheader Sunday with the Lynchburg Hillcats, winning the opener 5-3 before dropping the finale 8-0. In game one, P.J. Higgins started the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first inning before doubling in a pair of runs in the third. With the Birds up 3-0 in the sixth, Connor Myers doubled in a run and D.J. Wilson cashed in another with an RBI ground out to make it 5-0. Those insurance runs allowed Myrtle Beach to survive Li-Jen Chu's three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth. In the finale, the Hillcats plated a run in the first and fourth frames to take a 2-0 advantage. Lynchburg broke the game open with six runs in the fifth inning to go up 8-0. The Pelicans were shut out for a league-worst 10th time this season.

MY HEART'S A MONASTERIO

Myrtle Beach infielder Andruw Monasterio has reached base multiple times in 11 contests during his 16-game on-base streak, which matches Vimael Machin's roll from April 12-May 2 for the longest such streak by a Pelican this season. Monasterio's 16-game on-base streak is also the longest active run in the Carolina League. Over these last 16 contests, the Caracas, Venezuela native is 23-for-58 (.397/.453/.517) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, six RBIs and six walks. After slashing just .241/.313/.287 (75 wRC+) in a brief stint at the High-A level last year, Monasterio is hitting .284/.370/.365 (113 wRC+) this season. Part of his success is a better approach at the plate; after walking in 5.2 percent of his plate appearances in 2016 and 8.3 percent last season, Monasterio is posting a career-best 11.3 percent walk rate in 2018, the third-best mark on the team.

TYSON'S CORNER

Myrtle Beach starter Tyson Miller, who gets the nod in Tuesday's doubleheader opener against Buies Creek, has made a habit of working up in the strike zone in 2018. Only two pitchers in the Carolina League have posted a higher fly ball rate than Miller's 49.4 percent. Not coincidentally, only one pitcher in the circuit has registered a lower ground ball rate than Miller 32.0 percent mark. Opponents have struck out in 23.4 percent of plate appearances against Miller, the seventh-best mark in the league. His 6.7 walk percentage places 17th.

DUANE'S WORLD

Former Myrtle Beach right-hander Duane Underwood Jr. made his major league debut Monday by tossing four innings of one-run ball for the Cubs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Underwood Jr. helped the Pelicans win the Mills Cup title in both 2015 and 2016, going 6-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 15 starts over those two campaigns. Originally drafted by the Cubs in the second round of the 2012 draft out of Pope High School in Georgia, Underwood Jr. had made 14 appearances, 13 starts, with Triple-A Iowa in 2018, going 3-7 with a 4.27 ERA (71.2 IP, 69 H, 20 BB, 60 K).

BROKEN BATS

Myrtle Beach has followed up 11 wins in 12 games with 10 losses in 12 contests despite consistently excellent pitching. The club has really struggled offensively during this run, scoring a grand total of 24 runs over this nine-game stretch (2.0 per game). In fact, the Pelicans have tallied two runs or fewer in 10 of their last 11 contests. As a team over the last 12 games, Myrtle Beach is posting a batting line of .182/.261/.253 (336 AB, 61 H, 14 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 34 BB, 2 HBP).

START SPREADING THE NEWS

Over the last 29 games, Myrtle Beach has seen their starting pitching catch fire, with the club's rotation ceding just 49 runs, 45 earned, on 146 hits in 157.1 innings for a 2.57 ERA. Pelicans starters have whiffed 135 while walking only 38 during this stretch. Not coincidentally, Myrtle Beach has allowed more than four runs just three times in these 29 games. Birds starters are averaging 5.2 innings per start over this stretch, compared to 4.2 prior to this run.

PELICAN POINTS

On June 10, Myrtle Beach boasted a 10-3 record in one-run games, the best such mark in the Carolina League. However, the Pelicans have lost their last four contests decided by one run, dropping their record to 10-7 in one-run affairs... The Birds begin a nine-game homestand on Monday, the second-longest in recorded club history, which dates back through 2005 (10 games, June 13-23, 2005)... Left-hander Wyatt Short was promoted Monday to Double-A Tennessee. He went 1-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 22 games with Myrtle Beach.

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Carolina League Stories from June 26, 2018


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