CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes

Published on August 18, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


RHP Marty Popham (4-2, 4.69) at RHP Kennil Gomez (2-3, 3.60)

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!: The Southern Division second-half pennant chase is at a full burn with two and a half weeks left in the season. The Winston-Salem Dash, with 18 games left to play, hold a half-game lead over the Kinston Indians, who have 19 games to go. The Pelicans sit four games behind in third place and the Salem Red Sox are in the cellar five games back. The Birds need to get hot and hope the two teams ahead of them fade to claim the second-half crown, but it is of little consequence to them as they've already earned a playoff berth by winning the first-half title. With the Birds' first-round opponent still to be determined, it should be a great race before the regular season's dramatic conclusion on Labor Day.

COUNT ON SOME CLOSE GAMES: The Pelicans and Indians always seem to locked in tight battles this season. Of the 16 matchups so far in the season series, which have been split 8-8, 12 have been decided by one or two runs. The K-Tribe has won four of the seven one-run games and the Pelicans have taken three of five two-run contests. 70 of the Birds' 121 games have been won by that slim a margin (57.9%). Myrtle Beach and Kinston famously played the longest game in Carolina League history on June 12 at historic Grainger Stadium, which was fittingly a one-run affair that the Indians took 3-2 in the 23rd inning.

BROKEN 'HEART'-ED: The heart of the Salem Red Sox lineup did in the Pelicans last night. In the third inning against Wilfredo Boscan, 3-4-5 hitters Kolbrin Vitek, Bryce Brentz and Miles Head hit three home runs in succession to cap a six-run rally. Vitek's was a three-run shot that broke a 1-1 tie. Four pitches later, it was Brentz's solo homer before Head knocked the first pitch he saw out of the park.

PITCHING LIKE IT'S 1899: The Myrtle Beach pitching staff has been brilliant against the Kinston Indians this year. 18 hurlers have contributed to a cumulative 1.86 ERA and .205 opponent batting average in the first 16 games of the season series. Chad Bell, thanks in part to five shutout innings in the 23-inning game on June 12 and a fine six-inning start on August 4, has a 0.68 mark in four appearances against Kinston. In nine starts against the K-Tribe, the four aces that made up the Birds' rotation for much of the season, Robbie Erlin, Joe Wieland, Robbie Ross and Barret Loux, allowed only seven earned runs in 42 innings (1.50 ERA). Unfortunately for Myrtle Beach, the offense has been lackluster against Kinston as the club has only mustered an 8-8 split in 16 games. After posting a pair of double-digit run totals in a four-game set in Kinston in April, the Pelicans have only averaged 3.33 runs per game against the K-Tribe.

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Carolina League Stories from August 18, 2011


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