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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes

August 15, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


- LHP Chad Bell (2-1, 2.75) at RHP Ryan Pressly (6-9, 4.30) -

THIS WAS FUN, WE SHOULD DO IT AGAIN SOMETIME: The last series meeting between the Pelicans and Red Sox was a delight for Myrtle Beach. From July 13-16 at BB&T Coastal Field, the Birds swept a four-game set from Salem, again sending the Red Sox back to last place in the Southern Division where they finished the first half. The Pelicans routed Salem 8-3 in the opener after taking an early 8-0 lead. Myrtle Beach then broke out the dramatics for the next three nights, holding off the Red Sox 6-5 in the second contest and walking off in back-to-back nights on the 15th and 16th. In game three, the Pelicans rallied from a 3-0 deficit for three seventh inning runs before walking off on Zach Zaneski's single off Jeremiah Bayer in the tenth.One night later, the Pelicans had one of their best victories of the season, rallying from scores of 5-2 and 6-3 to tie the game at six in the bottom of the ninth and walk off on their first game-ending homer of the season, Jared Bolden's rocket out to right-center against Anatanaer Batista. Myrtle Beach has now won nine of the last 11 meetings between these two teams. Three of the Pelicans' five losses in the series have been by one run.

WELCOME, NEW GUY: First baseman Andrew Clark annoucned his arrival in the Caroolina League in a big way. Clark, promoted to Myrtle Beach on August 14, was in the fifth spot in the lineup in his first day with the club and smashed a two-run tie-breaking homer in the fourth inning en route to the Pelicans' 5-2 series-concluding win over the Potomac Nationals. Clark later singled and scored the Pelicans' final run of the afternoon.

TRIPLESBORGER: Myrtle Beach outfielder Ryan Strausborger tripled in Sunday's series finale at Potomac, an event that was significant for two reasons. First, it was Strausborger's first triple since June 15, a span of 45 games between three-baggers. Secondly, it broke a three-way tie at the top of the Carolina League leaderboard in that category that had stood since Winston-Salem's Jared Mitchell tripled for the seventh time on July 25. Wilmington's Rey Navarro, promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas early in the second half, departed the Carolina League with seven triples.

XBH 118: Strausborger's fourth-inning triple, from which he later scored, came as the third in a string of four straight extra-base hits for the Pelicans in their 118th game of the year. That stringed matched the total of extra-base hits the Pelicans had in each of their previous two contests, both losses at the hands of the Potomac Nationals.

NEW FACES: With the seasons's stretch run at hand, the Pelicans are a team in flux. After Saturday's third game at Potomac, first baseman-outfielder Jared Bolden was promoted to Double-A Frisco on the heels of a red hot stretch through July and August. To replace him and fill a vacant spot on the roster, the Pelicans have received first baseman Andrew Clark and lefty reliever Jimmy Reyes from the Class A Hickory Crawdads. Clark, a 13th-round pick last year out of the University of Louisville, batted .313 with 12 homers, 60 runs batted in, and a .904 OPS in 103 games in Hickory. Those marks include a blistering .345 average, nine homers, 38 RBIs, and a 1.027 OPS since the All-Star Break in the South Atlantic League. Reyes, a southpaw from Elon University, the same alma mater as 2010 Myrtle Beach Pelican Cory Harrilchak, was a seventh-rounder a year ago also experienced considerable success in the Sally. Through 26 appearances, the 22-year-old posted a 6-2 record, a 1.88 ERA, a total of 44 strikeouts to 7 walks and went a span of nearly two months (June 10-August 1) without allowing a run. On Monday, the Pelicans made two more roster moves. Closing in on his innings limit for the 2011 season, right-hander Barret Loux has been placed on the disabled list with fatigue. To replace him on the roster, the Pelicans have received infielder Jimmy Swift from the AZL Rangers. Swift, a Creighton University product, was signed by the Rangers shortly after being passed up in the 2011 MLB Draft. Swift saw action in 27 AZL games and killed it in Rookie ball, batting .416 with three homers, 23 runs batted in, and a ridiculous 1.163 OPS while seeing time at both second and third base. The West Des Moines, Iowa native also saw four games of play with the Frisco RoughRiders in July and batted .167 (2-for-12). He'll start for the Pelicans tonight at third.

CRITICAL STRETCH: Tonight's series opener of three at Salem begins a crucial stretch for the Pelicans if they want to repeat as Southern Division champions in the second half. Myrtle Beach plays 11 of its next 14 games against Southern Division opponents and 14 of its final 20 to round out the 2011 season. Myrtle Beach enters tonight three and a half games back of first-place Winston-Salem in the second half and two and a half back of second-place Kinston. The Red Sox are two games back of the Pelicans in last place in the division. Myrtle Beach returns home for four-games with Kinston this weekend. They'll see Winston-Salem and Salem again in the next two weeks.

OLT REPORT: A common question for Pelicans fans in the second half has been, "When's Mike Olt coming back - The Birds' third baseman and offensive leader in the first half broke his collarbone in a home plate collision against Winston-Salem on June 6 at BB&T Coastal Field. Sunday, Olt, the seventh-best Rangers prospect entering the year according to Baseball America, played in his first rehab game with the AZL Rangers and blasted a three-run homer in his first trip to the plate in the Arizona League. After going hitless in his next two at bats, the University of Connecticut product departed the Rangers' eventual 6-1 win. Olt departed the Pelicans in early June with a .286 average, ten home runs, 34 runs batted in, and a .903 OPS. His homer total still leads all Pelicans hitters, as does his OPS.

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