Sports stats



CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes

August 21, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


RHP Clayton Cook (8-8, 3.86) at LHP Miguel De Los Santos (5-3, 2.83)

I'M BACK!: The Pelicans have battled injuries to key players in the second half, but third baseman Mike Olt came back from his 66-game DL stint the only way he knew how. After drawing a four-pitch walk in his first trip to the plate in the first inning, he crushed a mammoth home run to left field in the third inning off Kinston starter Mike Rayl. Olt added an RBI double in the fifth inning as well as his three runs batted in to lead the charge in a Pelicans victory. Olt left the Pelicans 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. Olt has been gone for so long, he has actually played less than half the season, missing 66 of the Birds' 124 games. The Pelicans started the season 33-23, lost the night Olt went down and went 33-33 in his absence.

BELL OF THE BALLGAME: Left-hander Chad Bell has excelled in his move from the bullpen to the starting rotation and he kept it up last night. The Knoxville, TN native shut down the Indians for seven innings, allowing one run on six hits. Not only did he match a career-high with seven innings pitched, he also equaled a career-high with eight strikeouts. In five outings since becoming a starter, Bell is 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA (9 ER/31 IP). Dating back to his amazing five-inning, one-hit, eight-strikeout performance from the 18th through the 22nd innings in Kinston on June 12, Chad has only allowed 13 earned runs in his last 53 innings, good for a 2.21 ERA over his last 15 games.

SO MUCH FOR THE CLOSE GAMES: The blowouts victories this weekend are uncharacteristic of this season series. 12 off the first 16 matchups between the Pelicans and Indians this season were decided by one or two runs. But in this set Kinston won the opener on Thursday 9-3 before Myrtle Beach answered back in a 15-9 slugfest on Friday. After the teams swapped six-run wins, the Pelicans won the third game 7-2. In contrast to the combined 17-run margin in the three games this weekend, the previous 11 head-to-head matchups were decided by only 16 runs total.

'TIL WE MEET AGAIN': The Pelicans and Indians play each other for the final time in the regular season. This could be the last game ever between the two clubs, as Kinston will move to Zebulon, NC for the 2012 season. However, with Kinston in the running for the Southern Division second-half title, The Pelicans and the K-Tribe could meet in the postseason. Myrtle Beach edged the Indians by two games in the first half to clinch a playoff berth and they will play whoever wins the second half. If the Birds come back to win the second-half title as well, they'll play whoever finishes second to them and secures a wild card spot. It looks like the Pelicans will host either the Indians or the Winston-Salem Dash in the playoff opener on Wednesday, September 7.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from August 21, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Myrtle Beach Pelicans Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central