CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach Pelicans Game Notes: May 12 at Carolina

Published on May 12, 2019 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


Today, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans take on the Carolina Mudcats (a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate) in the final game of a three-game series with first pitch at 2:00 p.m. This afternoon, RHP Adbert Alzolay (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his first start for the Birds against RHP Dylan File (2-3, 3.48 ERA). Coverage begins at 1:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app.

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MUDDIES COME BACK, WALK-OFF AGAINST BIRDS

Leading 7-4 into the eighth, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans allowed a two-run homer in the eighth and a three-run, walk-off home run to Mario Feliciano in the Carolina Mudcats 9-7 win from Five County Stadium on Saturday. Tied at 1-1 into the sixth, the Pelicans plated three runs to take the lead, highlighted by a two-run homer from Kevonte Mitchell. After the Mudcats tied the game with three runs in the home-half of the sixth, Grant Fennell sent a three-run jack out of the park to stake the Birds to a 7-4 advantage. Feliciano then took over with his two homers in the Pelicans loss.

REVOLVING DOOR AT THE TOP

In the early part of the season, the Pelicans have had a bunch of different players fill the leadoff spot in the order. Zach Davis (9 starts in the leadoff spot), Carlos Sepulveda (4), Yeiler Peguero (3), D.J. Wilson (7), Jimmy Herron (11) and Jhonny Bethencourt (2) have all hit first for the Birds this season. While Herron has the most starts at the top of the order, Davis has the highest batting average (.211) out of that spot. Overall, the leadoff spot has struggled, hitting just .191 (26-for-136).

WALK IT LIKE I TALK IT

The Pelicans have drawn their fair share of walks in 2019. Entering Sunday's contest against the Mudcats, the Birds are second in the Carolina League with 147 free passes, just one behind the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. Miguel Amaya and Jimmy Herron are tied for fourth in the league with 20 walks while Aramis Ademan places seventh with 18. On the pitching side, the Birds have only walked 12 batters over their last six games, no more than three in a single game.

BETTER GET HERE ON TIME

Over the first 36 games of the season, the Birds have allowed 31 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, 20.7 percent (70-of-338) have been scored in the first inning. There has been at least one first-inning run by either team in 11 of the last 15 games the Pelicans have played. The Birds and their opponents have gone scoreless in the first three innings only twice in the last 20 games and only six times in their first 36 games.

START ME UP AND NEVER STOP

Over the last eight contests for the Birds, in which they are 5-3, the starting pitching has been the key. Javier Assad, Alex Lange, Luis Lugo, Erling Moreno and Paul Richan all threw well in their starts. Their starters' ERA of 1.80 (9 ER in 45 IP) has lowered the overall starters' ERA on the season substantially. Entering the Salem series on May 3, the starters' ERA was 7.02. Entering Sunday's game against Carolina, that ERA has dropped to 5.57. As a whole, the Birds only allowed seven earned runs over the five-game winning streak (1.40 ERA) before surrendering a total of 18 earned runs over the last three games, all of which were losses.

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 10 games of May, the Birds are 5-5 and are hitting .235 with an ERA of 3.90. 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), 76 of the 103 meetings (74 percent) between the two have been decided by three runs or fewer. The Birds are 36-40 in those contests. In one-run games, the Pelicans are 18-18, they are 9-14 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 19 games, Davis is third in the league with 10 stolen bags, only trailing Jarren Duran of Salem with 13, who has played in 31 games and Eric Jenkins of Down East (11 swipes in 33 games). His 0.53 steals per game are by far the best in the league.

PELICAN POINTS

The five homers that the two clubs combined for in Saturday's game were the most in a Pelicans game this season. Grant Fennell hit his first homer on the season while Kevonte Mitchell's blast was his first since April 18 at Lynchburg and his fourth on the season...It was also the first walk-off loss on the season for the Birds and the second walk-off that they have seen this season, both against Carolina. Jhonny Bethencourt hit a walk-off sacrifice fly against the Muddies on April 24 in the bottom of the ninth, scoring Cam Balego, to give the Birds a 3-2 win over Carolina.

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Carolina League Stories from May 12, 2019


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