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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes: 7:00 p.m. at Winston-Salem - July 8, 2014

July 8, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


LAST TIME OUT: The Pelicans took a game one loss to the Winston- Salem Dash at BB&T Ballpark on Monday evening. Winston-Salem right-hander Tyler Danish posted six scoreless frames on the way to the win before Myrtle Beach scored a run in the seventh and ninth on RBI doubles from outfielder ROYCE BOLINGER...The Winston-Salem collected nine hits in the game, eight of which went for extra bases, including three triples and a home run...The best chance to score off of Danish came in the first inning for the Pelicans..CHRISTOPHER BOSTICK tripled to right-center field with one out. Danish then struck out NICK WILLIAMS and JORGE ALFARO to get out of the jam...

Myrtle Beach managed just two more baserunners off of him. Luis Mendez singled with one out in the third and Williams led off the fourth with a single. Danish struck out seven and did walk a single Pelican...

Pelicans starter VICTOR PAYANO allowed three baserunners in the first but kept the Dash off the scoreboard. In the second, the bottom of the lineup began their outstanding day...Michael Marjama singled in front of back-to-back triples from Zach Voight and Cleuluis Rondon to score a pair. Jacob May brought another run across with a sacrifice fly to put Winston-Salem ahead 3-0...The Dash added two more runs in the fourth.

Marjama doubled to set the table for Rondon, who blasted his first home run of 2014 to extend the lead to 5-0...The bottom four hitters in the Dash lineup with 8-for-16 with seven extra base hits and five RBI...Danish was lifted after six innings, and the Pelicans scored off of the bullpen in the seventh. Alfaro knocked a one-out single off of Dave Putnam. Bolinger then clubbed his first of two RBI doubles, bringing Alfaro around from first to cut the lead to 5-1...In his return to the Pelicans, knuckleballer KEVIN PUCETAS tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Payano. He walked two but did not allow a hit and struck out two...ABEL DE LOS SANTOS surrendered a run in the bottom of the eighth, as Winston- Salem pulled ahead 6-1... The Pelicans rallied in the ninth with another run on a Bolinger double, but it fell short...DAVID LYON walked to put the tying run on deck, but EDWIN GARCIA flied out to right field and KEVIN TORRES struck out looking to end the ballgame...Danish (2-1) picked up the win, his second, while Payano (3-6) suffered his second straight defeat.

DEAD BALL MONTH: July has seen a lot of low-scoring Pelicans games, with only one game featuring a team scoring more than six runs. The Pelicans offense averages better than five runs a game this season, but games in July are averaging 5.3 runs between the two teams combined. While the Pelicans offense has sputtered some in the month, hitting a season-low .239 as a team, the pitching has been fantastic. The club has posted a 2.09 ERA in the seven games. Starting pitchers had not allowed more than two earned runs in a start this month until Victor Payano's five runs allowed yesterday.

THREE'S COMPANY: Myrtle Beach has squared off against the Dash in three series this season, winning all three sets. The club has a 7-3 record against Winston-Salem this season. Since Winston-Salem became the Dash, the all-time series is incredibly close; the Dash took a 55-54 lead with the win yesterday.

LIGHTS OUT LECLERC: Flamethrower JOSE LECLERC picked up two saves in the series at Potomac, retiring all seven batters he faced over two outings, including five on strikes. He has retired 12 batters in a row and Carolina Leaguers are 0-for-their-last-15 against him with three walks. If he retires the next two batters he faces, he will match KEONE KELA for the longest stretch of consecutive batters faced by a Pelicans reliever this season. ANDREW FAULKNER has the longest such overall streak, 15 batters retired straight, set in his May 31 start against the Carolina Mudcats.

THE RETURN OF THE KNUCKLEBALL: Promoted yesterday from Hickory, KEVIN PUCETAS made his return to the Birds and tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Victor Payano in the loss. The newly minted Knuckleballer is in his first season after fully converting to the pitch late last year. After a modest stint in Double-A in his first year with the Rangers, Pucetas came down to the Pelicans to work on the pitch, posting 1-3 record and a 4.78 ERA in six outings a year ago. This season, he went 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 13 outings, 12 of which came out of the bullpen before the call up.

THE AIKEN ACE: Southpaw ANDREW FAULKNER tossed another five scoreless frames on Sunday en route to his seventh win. He is one of just two Carolina Leaguers to qualify for the ERA title with only one loss (Frederick's Mark Blackmar, 5-1, is the other). Faulkner is second in the league in ERA (2.22) trailing only Ryan Merritt (1.65), and has still yet to allow a home run, now in 89 1/3 innings.

TRIPLE-THREAT: Pelicans outfielder CHRIS GARIA is in the midst of a breakout season, picked up a season-high four hits on Sunday and is now hitting .300, good for eighth in the league and the highest mark of his career outside of his All-Star Season in the Dominican Summer League in 2011 when he hit .315. With his triple last week, he now has the most triples in the Carolina League since Alex Presley knocked 11 triples in 2009 for the Lynchburg Hillcats. The ten triples is also a career- high for Curaçao native. He is now just three stolen bases shy of his career-high in steals as well and is only two steals back of the active leader in the league, former Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Jacob May of Winston-Salem.

(ONE OF) THE BEST AROUND: The Birds are now tied for the sixth- best record in full-season MiLB. They trail the South Atlantic League's Savannah Sand Gnats (59-26) and Greensboro Grasshoppers (57-32), the Midwest League's Kane County Cougars (57-29), the Eastern League's Portland Sea Dogs (59-30), and now also the California League's Bakersfield Blaze (56-32), the former Rangers Advanced A affiliate who had a seven-game winning streak snapped yesterday. They are tied with Dunedin (55-32). The Pelicans have been as high as second overall, when they trailed only the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League.

THE BEST CATCHER IN THE WORLD?: Just like 2013, Rangers farmhands JORGE ALFARO and JOEY GALLO were named to the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. Neither participated last year due to injury but are both currently on their respective active rosters at the moment. Alfaro and Braves minor leaguer (and former Hillcat) Christian Bethancourt are the two catchers on the World Team. The game will be played before the on Sunday, July 13 at Target Field at 5:00 p.m. and will air on MLB Network.

STRUTTING THEIR FEATHERS: The Pelicans roster currently features four players highlighted in Baseball America's list of the Rangers' Top 30 prospects, including two of the top 5, and two in the overall top 100 in MiLB. Catcher JORGE ALFARO (ranked No. 2 in the Rangers Top 30, No. 54 in the overall Top 100) and NICK WILLIAMS (3, 97) rank in the top 100. The other players in the Texas Top 30 are OF LEWIS BRINSON (15) and RHP JOSE LECLERC (16). Unranked in the top 30, CHRIS GARIA is the "Fastest Baserunner" and PRESTON BECK has the "Best Outfield Arm." CHRISTOPHER BOSTICK, traded from Oakland in December, was ranked No. 18 in the Athletics' top 30 by BA. Third baseman JOEY GALLO (4, 60) and RHPs ALEX "CHI CHI" GONZALEZ (5), KEONE KELA (18), and LHP ALEXANDER CLAUDIO (27) were all on the Pelicans' Opening Day Roster and are now with the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders.

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