CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes: 7:00 p.m. ET at Carolina Mudcats - June 25, 2015

Published on June 25, 2015 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


First pitch from Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina is set for 7:00 p.m. ET

PELICANS: RHP Tyler Skulina (2-4, 3.05 ERA) | MUDCATS: RHP Brandon Barker (3-1, 3.42 ERA)

Today's game can be heard on WRNN AM 1450 ESPN Myrtle Beach, online and on mobile devices via TuneIn Radio, or on the MiLB First Pitch App. The broadcast is presented by Courtyard Myrtle Beach at Barefoot Landing. Pregame Show coverage begins at 6:40 p.m. The game is also available with live streaming video on MiLB.tv (subscription required) with the Carolina broadcast feed.

LAST TIME OUT: The Pelicans won the first-half finale against the Lynchburg Hillcats on Sunday 4-1...DAURY TORREZ worked six innings of one-run ball, and the bullpen worked the rest scoreless...After falling behind 1-0, the Pelicans answered with two runs in the bottom of the first...The club tacked another run in the third on a bases-loaded RBI single from CARLOS PENALVER, and JACOB ROGERS crushed his team-leadining ninth homer in the seventh.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF WINNING: Coming off of a victory in their final game of the first half, the Pelicans will look to continue the trend as they open the second half tonight against the Mudcats. The Pelicans have had success in recent second-half openers, having won the previous three in-a-row. In 2010, the Potomac Nationals took away a 2-1 win, and again in 2011 with a 6-5 win over the Birds. The Pelicans won their second-half openers in 2007 and 2009, but lost to Potomac, 5-2, to begin the second half in 2008. With the Birds' victory on Sunday over Lynchburg, the team has closed out the first half with a "W" in seven of the last nine years. In 2011, the final game of the half against Frederick was rained out, but the Pelicans won the previous day's game.

WE'RE IN!: During the fifth inning of game one of the doubleheader on Saturday, the Salem Red Sox fell 8-2 at BB&T Ballpark to the Winston-Salem Dash, putting the Pelicans into the postseason for a fifth straight season. The Pelicans franchise has won its first-half title five times in the last eight years now, and have captured three straight half-season titles. In 16 seasons prior to this year, the Pelicans have won two Mills Cup Championships (one co-championship in '99, outright in '00), have made eight postseason appearances behind ten half-season Southern Division championships, including both halves in 2014, as well as four Southern Division titles, most recently this past season.

LONG BOMBS AWAY: JACOB ROGERS' ninth homer on Sunday contiuned a recent trend of the Pelicans in the plus in homers of late. The last four home runs in Pelicans games have all been by the "good guys," with four home runs for and none against. Over the stretch of the last six Pelicans homers, spanning eight games, the Birds have surrendered just one, a lead-off homer from Winston-Salem's Jake Peter on Monday. In the recent series with the homer-leading Lynchburg Hillcats, the Pelicans smashed four homers and did not allow one. In 12 games with the Carolina Mudcats, the Pelicans have hit three homers and allowed five.

HEY NOW THEY WERE ALL-STARS: Pelicans third baseman JEIMER CANDELARIO, starting pitchers DUANE UNDERWOOD JR. and JONATHAN MARTINEZ, and outfielder MARK ZAGUNIS competed in the 2015 California League vs. Carolina League All-Star Game this past Tuesday. Candelario doubled, collecting two hits, and Zagunis also smacked two hits, collecting the lone RBI for the Carolinians. Martinez tossed a scoreless seventh inning, while Underwood allowed a run in the second, but surrendered just one run despite allowing the first two men to reach. The Carolina League suffered a 9-2 loss.

UNDERWOOD EYES THE TOP: Although DUANE UNDERWOOD JR. allowed a run in the All-Star Game, that won't count against his numbers for the year, and he is closing in on the club's ERA record. In a minimum of 112 innings (0.8/game over a 140 game season), KENNY "BUBBA" NELSON has the lowest ERA in franchise history, and it's not close. He 1.72 mark is over a half-run lower than second place ROBBIE ROSS (2.26, 2011). With his most recent seven-inning shutout performance, Underwood is now at 1.85, which is lowest in the league, third best in the Cubs system among full-season minor leaguers, and 14th-best in MiLB. He is also now on-pace for 12 wins, which would be the most by a Pelicans pitcher since SCOTT DIAMOND went 12-2 in 2008.

PROSPECT 8-PACK: Eight of the 25 active players on the roster are ranked in the Cubs Top 30 prospects according to MLBPipeline.com's Prospect Watch and seven in Baseball America's Top 30. The balanced roster has four position players and four pitchers ranked: RHPs PAUL BLACKBURN (No. 24 MLB.com/No. 18 Baseball America), DAURY TORREZ (22/30), JEN-HO TSENG (8/11), DUANE UNDERWOOD (6/10), C VICTOR CARATINI (16/13), 3B JEIMER CANDELARIO (12/24), 2B DANIEL LOCKHART (No. 29/NR), and OF MARK ZAGUNIS (15/15). Baseball America also lauded a handful of Pelicans players with "Best Tools" labels. Caratini is the "Best Defensive Catcher" in the system according to the 2015 Prospect Handbook, CARLOS PENALVER as the "Best Defensive Infielder," Tseng has the "Best Control" and "Best Changeup," Underwood possesses the "Best Fastball," and Zagunis has "Best Strike Zone Discipline." They also list JUAN PANIAGUA as the top "Sleeper" prospect. Outfielders BILLY MCKINNEY (9/6) and JACOB HANNEMANN (21/17, and BA's "Fastest Baserunner,") were on the roster but have since been promoted. ANDREW ELY, named by BA as the "Best Defensive Player" from the Cubs 2014 draft class, was on the club's Opening Day roster but went down to South Bend.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS LINEUP

6 Mark Zagunis DH

20 Pin-Chieh Chen LF

3 Chesny Young 2B

24 Jeimer Candelario 3B

44 Jacob Rogers 1B

17 Victor Caratini C

1 Carlos Penalver SS

7 Daniel Lockhart DH

15 Trey Martin CF

28 Tyler Skulina RHP

CAROLINA MUDCATS LINEUP

32 Keith Curcio CF

34 Connor Lien RF

46 Dustin Peterson LF

25 Jacob Schrader DH

10 Carlos Franco 3B

44 Joey Meneses 1B

36 Jose Briceno C

2 Johan Camargo SS

47 Reed Harper 2B

47 Brandon Barker RHP

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Carolina League Stories from June 25, 2015


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