CarL Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Erase Five-Run Deficit to Beat RiverDogs in Series Finale

August 16, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


Just as the series started, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans erased a five-run Charleston RiverDogs lead to win 9-6 on Sunday evening. The series finale was the second time Myrtle Beach has come back from down five runs, with the first coming on Tuesday night in the series opener. The Pelicans climb back up to .500 at 45-45, while the RiverDogs drop to 63-26. The series was split three games apiece, which was the first time Charleston has not won a series since the first week of June.

The Birds' lineup exploded for 13 hits as every player collected a base knock. Jordan Nwogu (2-5, 3 RBI) led the group with three runs batted in. Jonathan Sierra (2-5, RBI) also brought home a run with Ed Howard (1-3, RBI) driving in the tying run in the eighth inning. Yohendrick Pinango (1-4, 2 R) extended his team-best 11-game hitting streak in the victory.

The pitching staff held the game together in the later innings as Gabriel Jaramillo (4-1) took the win with two hitless innings to close it out. Daniel Palencia started his second game of the year for Myrtle Beach and tossed 3 1/3 innings with three earned runs off four hits with five strikeouts.

After jumping to a 6-1 lead, the RiverDogs bullpen sacrificed eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings as Joe LaSorsa (0-2) blew the save and took the loss with four earned runs off four hits in just an inning of work. Ian Seymour started his second game of the week and was once again fantastic with eight strikeouts over his four innings with one earned run.

Charleston was held to just six hits for the game as Diego Infante (1-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R) led the visitors with a three-run homer in the third inning. Abiezel Ramirez (1-4, 2 RBI) also brought home two runs in the loss.

Both starting pitchers cruised through the first two innings with Charleston taking the lead first in the top of the third. Palencia gave up back-to-back singled with one out but forced Tanner Murray to pop up for the second out. Infante came up and crushed a three-run homer to left-center field on a 3-2 pitch to give the RiverDogs a 3-0 lead.

The Pelicans got one back in the bottom of the fourth as Josue Huma hit a single up the middle to lead it off. After the next two batters were retired, Huma stole second to move into scoring position. Sierra hit a grounder up the middle for a single as Huma came up to put Myrtle Beach on the board.

Two more runs came in the RiverDogs' half of the sixth as Infante reach base on a fielding error by Kevin Made at third with nobody out. The next two batters were retired as Infante moved to second on a steal and got to third on a passed ball by catcher Pablo Aliendo. Jonathan Embry drew a two-out walk and stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Ramirez followed with a single up the middle to score both runners and lengthen the lead to 5-1.

Charleston put one more run up in the top of the seventh as Murray was hit by a pitch with one out. He stole second and moved to third on a balk by Pelicans' pitcher Dawel Rodriguez. With two outs, Rodriguez threw a wild pitch that allowed Murray to cross the plate and make it a 6-1 game.

The rally sparked in the bottom of the seventh with Made leading off with a ground-rule double th left-center field. After the next two batters were retired, Huma got hit by a 3-2 pitch by Andrew Gross to put two runners on. Pinango followed with a single into right that loaded the bases. Gross threw a wild pitch in Nwogu's at-bat that scored Made and Nwogu hit Huma and Pinango in on a single to center to cut the lead down to two.

Jaramillo threw just six pitches in the top of the eighth as the Pelicans came right back up to bat. Aliendo led off with a single and Made singled two batters later. Matt Warkentin followed with a grounder up the middle for a single that brought home Aliendo to make it a one-run game. With runners on the corners, Howard lined a single into right field to score Made and tied the game 6-6. The scoring didn't stop as Pinango drew a walk to load the bases. Audry Lugo came out of the bullpen and threw a wild pitch to Nwogu that scored two runners and put the Pelicans on top 8-6. Nwogu singled on a blooper up the middle as Pinango crossed the plate to extend the lead.

The RiverDogs were retired in order in the ninth as the Pelicans earned the series split.

Myrtle Beach will take a road trip to Fayetteville to take on the Woodpeckers before returning home on August 24th for a series against the Columbia Fireflies.

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Carolina League Stories from August 16, 2021


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