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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes: 7:00 p.m. ET at Winston-Salem Dash - August 18, 2015

August 18, 2015 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


PELICANS GAME NOTES: AUGUST 18 at WINSTON-SALEM DASH

First pitch from BB&T Ballpark in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is set for 7:00 p.m. ET

PELICANS: RHP Jonathan Martinez (8-2, 2.83 ERA) | DASH: RHP Yency Almonte (2-1, 2.29 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). Today's pregame interview is with Pelicans right-handed pitcher Jonathan Martinez.

LAST TIME OUT: Getting 6 2/3 scoreless innings from BRAD MARKEY, the Pelicans shutout the Lynchburg Hillcats in a series clinching 2-0 win...PIN-CHIEH CHEN put the Birds up 1-0 on a broken-bat RBI triple against Dace Kime and added another on an RBI two-bagger by KEVIN BROWN in the fourth....TYLER IHRIG (1 1/3 IP) and JASVIR RAKKAR (1 IP) completed the shutout...Lynchburg mustered just four hits in the game and had no runners in scoring position from the second through the eighth innings...The save for Rakkar was his 15, and Markey improved to 5-0.

WE GOT A SITUATION HERE: The Pelicans square off against the Dash tonight, trailing Winston-Salem by 1 1/2 games in the Carolina League Southern Division standings, making this three-game set a crucial one. Since Myrtle Beach has already clinched the first half division championship, a second half title would ensure the Birds home-field advantage in the second round of the Mills Cup Championship Series, should they advance past the first round. The Pelicans have not been in first place in the second half, while the Dash have had at least a share of first place every day of the second half. With 20 regular season games remaining this year, the Birds play the Dash six more times. The six games against the Dash are also the only contests the Pelicans will play against Southern Division opponents for the remainder of the regular season: Myrtle Beach is slated to face Northern Division foe Frederick three more times, Potomac for three games, and Wilmington on eight occasions. The Dash, on the other hand, have three contests remaining against Southern Division rival Carolina but finish their season facing all Northern Divisions clubs over their final 11, with eight more matchups against Frederick and three to play against Wilmington.

THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGIOUS SON: After a nearly month-long stint with the Tennessee Smokies, Pelicans home run leader JACOB ROGERS returns the club. Tennessee brought back C Taylor Davis, taking Rogers' spot on the Double-A roster. Rogers departed the Carolina League on July 21, leaving the league with the second-most home runs (11) and RBI (61) in the circuit. He was also third in walks, second in strikeouts, and second in home runs per at-bat (28.54), a rate which is now fourth in the league. Rogers is the lone Pelican with double-digit homers and added one to his haul in Double-A, hitting .247 with the one homer and 13 RBI in 23 games. He is tied for the organization lead in RBI (74) with former Pelican CHRISTIAN VILLANUEVA, who played for the Birds in 2012 as a Rangers farmhand. Pelicans outfielder MARK ZAGUNIS, who had not played since Friday, August 7, was placed on the disabled list, making room for Rogers' return.

REVERSED FORTUNES: Although the Pelicans still have the best road mark in the league, they have not been as successful away from home of late. At 34-23, the Birds have by far the best road mark in the circuit; in fact, the Pelicans are the only one of the eight teams in the league with a winning road record. The club was 24-11 in the first half but a modest 10-12 on the road in the second half. Over the team's last three road series, the club is just 3-6 with a series win at Salem and three-game set losses at Lynchburg and Frederick.

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF BB&T BALLPARK: Although the Pelicans have a losing record against the Dash (10-11), the club has been dominant at BB&T Ballpark. The Pelicans have gone 9-5 in Winston-Salem and have won three of the four road series in this park. The nine wins is the most in a single-season for the team on the road against Winston-Salem, at least dating back to the beginning of the 2004 season. That is due in part because of the new unbalanced schedule, however. The Pelicans have never played more than 11 games in Winston-Salem in a single regular season, while this year, they play 17. Myrtle Beach needs to sweep the Dash to post the best winning percentage at BB&T Ballpark in team history. A 12-5 record would be good for a .706 winning percentage, besting the .700 mark from 2004. The Dash have crushed the Pelicans in Myrtle Beach, winning six of the seven meetings.

BIRD FOOD: With the win on Sunday, the Pelicans are now 6-3 in rubber games...Myrtle Beach is coming off of a league-wide off-day on Monday, the penultimate day off of the regular season...The next, and final one, is on August 31...The Birds have won four straight series...The Pelicans have won eight of their last 11 games and 14 of their last 19 games...The Pelicans have not played Winston-Salem since July 9, marking the longest stretch of the year between meetings in the series.

PROSPECT 7-PACK: Six players on the Pelicans' roster are ranked in the Cubs Top 30 prospects according to MLBPipeline.com's Prospect Watch and six are in Baseball America's Top 30. RHPs PAUL BLACKBURN (NR by MLB.com/No. 18 Baseball America), JEREMY NULL (29/NR), DAURY TORREZ (28/30), JEN-HO TSENG (17/11), DUANE UNDERWOOD (5/10), catcher VICTOR CARATINI (23/13), and OF MARK ZAGUNIS (10/15). 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." Outfielders BILLY MCKINNEY (3/6), JACOB HANNEMANN (27/17, and BA's "Fastest Baserunner"), 3B JEIMER CANDELARIO (20/24), and JUAN PANIAGUA (top "Sleeper" prospect) 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. 2B DANIEL LOCKHART was at one point ranked #29 by MLB.com but is no longer.

MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS LINEUP

3 Chesny Young DH

20 Pin-Chieh Chen RF

44 Jason Vosler 3B

27 Jacob Rogers 1B

17 Victor Caratini C

35 Kevin Brown LF

1 Carlos Penalver SS

15 Trey Martin CF

7 Daniel Lockhart 2B

34 Jonathan Martinez RHP

WINSTON-SALEM DASH LINEUP

7 Adam Engel CF

1 Eddy Alvarez SS

3 Jake Peter 2B

8 Trey Michalczewski 3B

20 Keon Barnum 1B

29 Nick Basto LF

22 Omar Narvaez C

4 T.J. Williams DH

15 Nolan Earley RF

17 Yency Almonte RHP

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