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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes: 7:05 at Wilmington Blue Rocks - August 5, 2014

August 5, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


LAST TIME OUT: The Pelicans won the series finale on a walk- off wild pitch 7-6 against the Salem Red Sox on Sunday night at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. The Birds avoided being swept for the second time this season with the win and evened the season series with the Sox...The Red Sox entered the ninth inning trailing 5-4, but retook the lead against Pelicans reliever ABEL DE LOS SANTOS. Carlos Asuaje led off the frame with a single. After Jantzen Witte struck out swinging, and Mario Martinez hit his second two-run home run of the game with a drive off the scoreboard in left- center field to give the Red Sox the lead at 6-5...The home run was the first De Los Santos had allowed all season, and the blow save was first since last July...The Pelicans answered with two runs of their own against Red Sox reliever Madison Younginer to win the game. EDWIN GARCIA doubled to right field to lead off the inning, and NICK VICKERSON walked to give the Birds runners at first and second with nobody out. In the next at-bat, CHRIS GARIA laid down a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. Christopher Bostick then hit a ground ball to Martinez, who forced Garcia out at home. Trying to finish the double play, Jordan Weems threw off the mark to first base.

On the error, Vickerson scored to tie the game at six apiece, and Garia advanced to third, while Bostick reached second. With PRESTON BECK batting, Younginer threw a wild pitch on a 2-2 offering, and Garia trotted home the winning run...Salem scored four of the first five runs to go ahead 4-1, and Myrtle Beach starter VICTOR PAYANO surrendered all four runs. Pelicans relievers CODY BUCKEL and JOSH MCELWEE combined to pitch five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts while allowing two hits to hold the Red Sox at four runs. Myrtle Beach scored two runs in the third, one in the fifth, and one in the eighth to take a 5-4 lead heading into the ninth...Despite surrendering the lead in the top of the ninth, De Los Santos (4-0) earned the win. Younginer (2-3) took the loss.

IT'S BEEN AWHILE: The Pelicans played the Blue Rocks ten times during the first month of the season, and made two trips to Wilmington in April. They have not been back since, other than when six Pelicans went to Frawley Stadium for the All-Star Game. Myrtle Beach has dominated the Blue Rocks with 10 wins in 13 games; it's the best record for the Birds against any single Carolina League opponent. ANOTHER BIRD FLIES AWAY: Catcher JORGE ALFARO became the 13th Pelicans player to be promoted to Double-A when the Rangers moved him on Monday. Alfaro, 21, entered the season ranked as the second-best prospect in the Rangers farm system by Baseball America and the number 54 overall prospect in the game.

In 100 games with the Pelicans, including 75 behind the dish, the catcher slugged 13 homers and a league-leading 73 RBI. The product of Sincelejo, Colombia also clubbed 22 doubles, netted five triples, and swiped six steals. He departs as the team-leader in homers (only formerly promoted Joey Gallo hit more for Myrtle Beach) and in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak. Alfaro is coming off a three extra-base hit game on Saturday when he homered and smacked two doubles in his first three trips to the plate against the Salem Red Sox.

Carolina League teams were reluctant to run on Alfaro who cut down 26.4% of basestealers (19-for-72). The 72 attempts against him are the fewest in the league among qualifying catchers, despite Alfaro leading the league in starts behind the plate. Alfaro was a Carolina League Midseason All-Star, and for the second straight year was selected to play in the Futures Game. Texas signed Alfaro as a non- drafted international free agent in 2010...Alfaro was also honored by the league on Monday as the Carolina League Player of the Week.

He led the league in slugging (.720) and hit .400 (10-for-25) over the week with a homer, a triple, and three doubles. He drove in five runs and scored eight. In the Pelicans' 16-inning win on Wednesday, he collected four hits. He is the third different Pelicans player to pick up Player of the Week honors; Gallo won it three times, and Nick Williams won it once as well. Former Pelicans reliever ALEXANDER CLAUDIO was promoted to Triple-A on Monday as well. LHP SAM STAFFORD takes the place of Alfaro on the active roster, coming off of the disabled list.

KEEPING THOSE BROOMS AWAY: For the third time in a little over two weeks the Pelicans avoided being swept after losing the first two games of a series when they won in walkoff fashion on Sunday night.

Amazingly, the team has lost three or more games consecutively only once, when Salem handed the Pelicans their only sweep of the year in the Pelicans in the first four games of the season.

A PERFECT FIRST IMPRESSION: Tossing another two scoreless innings on Sunday night, reliever JOSH MCELWEE is now tied with JOSE MONEGRO for the most innings thrown to begin his 2014 Pelicans season without allowing a run (13.0 IP). McElwee has allowed just six hits and five walks in his 13 shutout frames and has struck out 18 batters. He fanned 14.25 batters per nine innings while in the South Atlantic League with the Hickory Crawdads before his July 18 promotion. He is fanning 12.46/9 IP in his time in the Carolina League thus far.

RUNNING WILD: With CHRIS GARIA's 36th stolen base of the season on Sunday, the outfielder is now in sole possession of third place on the single season record list in team history in stolen bases.

He now trails only QUENTIN DAVIS (37, 2007) and ADAM STERN (40, 2002). The 36 steals is also career-high for the native of Willemstad, Curaçao and tied for second in the league, trailing only Jacob May of Winston-Salem (37). The Pelicans currently lead the league in stolen bases after trailing Lynchburg for most of the year.

TREADING WATER: On Monday, for the fifth time in the half, the Pelicans faced falling below a .500 record, and once again, the club avoided that fate. The Pelicans have not been below .500 in the second half and have not been under the even mark for the season since their first win in a four-game sweep at Salem on April 11 to improve to 4-4.

The Pelicans' win on Sunday helped them avoid falling back to .500. STRUTTING THEIR FEATHERS: The Pelicans roster currently features three players highlighted in Baseball America's list of the Rangers' Top 30 prospects, including one of the top 5, and one in the overall top 100 in MiLB. Outfielder NICK WILLIAMS (ranked No. 3 in the Rangers Top 30, No. 97 in the overall Top 100) ranks 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. Catcher JORGE ALFARO (2, 54), third baseman JOEY GALLO (4, 60), RHPs ALEX "CHI CHI" GONZALEZ (5), and KEONE KELA (18) were all on the Pelicans' Opening Day Roster and are now with the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders, while LHP ALEXANDER CLAUDIO (27) is now with the Triple-A Round Rock Express.

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