CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes: 7:05 at Wilmington Blue Rocks - August 6, 2014

Published on August 6, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


LAST TIME OUT: The Pelicans notched their seventh shutout win of the year with a 2-0 blanking of the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium. Left-handed starter CHAD JAMES matched an affiliated career-high in strikeouts with nine and shutdown Wilmington over six strong innings...CHRIS GARIA created a run right off the bat for the Pelicans. He singled to open the game, then stole second and scored when, in stealing third, catcher Zane Evans' throw was dropped by third baseman Ramon Torres and went into left field. With the two steals, Garia now leads the Carolina League in stolen bases with 38...In the second, EDWIN GARCIA led off the inning with a single. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and then David Lyon knocked him in with a single to right field to make it 2-0...Neither team scored the rest of the way...Wilmington put two men on in the first, second, and sixth innings against Pelicans starter Chad James, but on each occasion, he worked out of the jam. James scattered four hits, three of which were singles, three walks, and nine strikeouts, which matched an affiliated career-high for him. He struck out nine batters on two other occasions: once in 2010 with Greensboro and again in 2011 with Jupiter, both while in the Florida Marlins system...

In his first game back from the disabled list, SAM STAFFORD worked around a leadoff walk to toss a scoreless seventh, and RYAN BORES nailed down his second save of the year and third of his career with two scoreless frames to close it out. The Blue Rocks loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Bores struck out pinch hitter Michael Antonio, and Jack Lopez hit into a fielder's choice to end it...The Blue Rocks didn't have a hit with a runner in scoring position until the ninth and went 1-for-9 overall in those situations...James (3-1) remained perfect on the road with the win, while Wilmington starter Jonathan Dziedzic (5-6) lowered his ERA to 2.42 but suffered the loss, allowing two runs, one earned, in six innings.

A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE: The Wilmington Blue Rocks lead the Carolina League in shutout wins with 13 and have the fewest shutout defeats in the league with only 4. The Pelicans shutout the Rocks last night, picking up their seventh shutout win; the club is 7-7 in such games.

BOOMING SOONER: Pelicans LHP CHAD JAMES matched a career-high with nine strikeouts on Tuesday. He fanned nine batters on June 8, 2010 as a member of the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Low-A) and on June 20, 2011 with the Jupiter Hammerheads (High-A) while in the Marlins system. James lost his only home start but is now 3-0 in three road outings.

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 11 wins in 14 games now; it's the best record for the Birds against any single Carolina League opponent.

WINNING IN WILMINGTON: Part of what has made the stretch against the Blue Rocks so impressive is the Pelicans record at Frawley Stadium, which is the furthest ballpark from Myrtle Beach in the league. The win last night already guaranteed a winning record here this season. The Pelicans are 5-2 in the First State and with wins today and tomorrow will have the second-best record here in franchise history. The 2008 club went 8-2 at Wilmington, which was the last time to even have a winning record at Frawley Stadium. Before this season, the Pelicans were just 12-18 at Wilmington.

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. LHP SAM STAFFORD took the place of Alfaro on the active roster, coming off of the disabled list.

Alfaro went 0-for-3 with two walks, a run scored, and two strikeouts in his RoughRiders debut on Tuesday night. Stafford pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Birds last night.

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: CHRIS GARIA swiped another two bags on Tuesday, and the outfielder is now second on the single season record list in team history in stolen bases. He now trails only ADAM STERN (40, 2002). The 38 steals is also career-high for the native of Willemstad, Curaçao and passed Jacob May of Winston-Salem (37) for the league lead and is 15th in the minors. The Pelicans currently lead the league in stolen bases after trailing Lynchburg for most of the year.

TREADING WATER: Last 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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