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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans Game Notes: May 10 at Carolina

May 10, 2019 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


Today, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans take on the Carolina Mudcats (a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate) in the first game of the three-game series with first pitch at 7:00 p.m. This evening, RHP Alex Lange (1-4, 13.50 ERA) makes his sixth start for the Birds against RHP Noah Zavolas (1-2, 2.65 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app.

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BIRDS' STREAK SNAPPED DESPITE ASSAD'S DOMINANCE

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans fell for the first time in five games on Thursday night to the Down East Wood Ducks in a 7-4 defeat from Grainger Stadium. The Birds' starter, Javier Assad, threw six shutout innings, only allowing one hit while striking out six, but the bullpen allowed seven run in the seventh inning in the loss. After taking the lead in the third inning on a Miguel Amaya infield RBI single, the Pelicans added on with three more in the fourth on RBI knocks from Kevonte Mitchell, Carlos Sepulveda and Zach Davis. The 4-0 lead vanished in the seventh inning. Brendan King (0-2) allowed five runs and Manny Rondon yielded a pair in the loss.

BETTER GET HERE ON TIME

Over the first 34 games of the season, the Birds have allowed 29 runs in the opening frame. On the offensive side, Myrtle Beach has scored 29 runs in the first inning themselves. Out of the total runs that have been scored in the games the Pelicans have played, 21.5 percent (68-of-316) have been scored in the first inning. There has been at least one first-inning run by either team in nine of the last 13 games the Pelicans have played. The Birds and their opponents have gone scoreless in the first three innings only twice in the last 18 games and only six times in their first 34 games.

HERRON THE HERO

Jimmy Herron has been hot at the plate for Myrtle Beach. The outfielder has reached in 10 of his last 11 games, hitting .342/.479/.605 over that stretch. In those 10 games, he has seven extra base hits (5 2B, 3B, HR), 9 RBIs, 7 RS, 10 BB and 4 SB. For the first time in his career, he stole two bases in the same game in Wednesday's morning contest against Down East. In his prior seven games, he was just hitting .107 (3-for-28).

START ME UP AND NEVER STOP

Over the last six contests for the Birds, in which they are 5-1, the starting pitching has been the key. Javier Assad, Alex Lange, Luis Lugo, Erling Moreno and Paul Richan were brilliant in their starts. Assad went six shutout innings on May 3 and threw six more shutout innings on Thursday, Lange threw five shutout frames, Lugo delivered five innings of one-run ball, Moreno threw 6.1 innings, just allowing one run and Richan allowed just a single tally in his six innings with eight strikeouts. Assad carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning against Salem while Lange didn't allow a hit in his five innings. Their starters' ERA of 0.79 has lowered the overall starters' ERA on the season substantially. Entering the Salem series on May 3, the starters' ERA was 7.02. Entering this series against Carolina, that ERA has dropped to 5.61. As a whole, the Birds only allowed seven earned runs over the five-game winning streak (1.40 ERA) before surrendering seven on Thursday.

HE'S A HECHT OF A BALLPLAYER

Ben Hecht has been brilliant out of the bullpen this season for the Pelicans. Hecht leads the way in the 'pen with a 1.76 ERA and paces the bunch with 12 appearances. Over his last six outings, the righty has struck out 15 over 9.1 innings while only allowing one run on eight hits. Last season, Hecht made 34 appearances for South Bend, owning a 4-1 record and a 4.23 ERA.

NEW MONTH, NEW ME

After a tough April in which the Pelicans set a record franchise low for winning percentage in a single month (.269) with a 7-19 record, May has been much more kind to the Birds. In the first seven games of May, the Birds are 5-3 and are hitting .244 with an ERA of 3.42. In April, Myrtle Beach just hit .212 with a 5.29 ERA. In 2018, after the Pelicans went 9-15 in April, they went 15-14 in May.

CLOSE RIVALRY

The Pelicans and the Mudcats have played some close games over the last few seasons. The 7-3 loss on April 23 was the most lopsided defeat for the Birds against Carolina since a 7-0 thumping on 5/3/18. In the Cubs affiliate era (2015-present), 75 of the 101 meetings (74 percent) between the two have been decided by three runs or fewer. The Birds are 35-39 in those contests. In one-run games, the Pelicans are 18-18, they are 9-13 in two-run contests and 8-9 in the head-to-head games decided by three runs.

DAVIS FLYING AROUND THE BASES

Pelicans outfielder Zach Davis has proven to be one of the most lethal base stealers in the Carolina League this season. Though he has only played in 17 games, Davis is tied for second in the league with 10 stolen bags, only trailing Jarren Duran of Salem with 13, who has played in 30 games. His 0.59 steals per game are by far the best in the league.

PELICAN POINTS

Myrtle Beach has allowed just one home run over its last nine games. In turn, the Birds have just hit one homer their last eight games...The seven runs allowed in the seventh of Thursday's loss tied a season high for the most runs allowed in one innings for the Birds. It was the third time the feat had been accomplished.

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