CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes

Published on September 4, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


RHP Anthony Ranaudo (4-5, 4.38) at RHP Kennil Gomez (2-6, 3.67)

WHO'S IT GONNA BE': The Pelicans have known since mid-June that they'd be headed to the 2011 best-of-five Southern Division Championship Series beginning at BB&T Coastal Field on Wednesday, September 7 and Thursday, September 8. What the Birds still don't know is who they'll be playing when the postseason opens. The Kinston Indians made a big move in the standings last night when they held on to beat Potomac 9-8 while the Winston-Salem Dash suffered a brutal 7-2 loss at Lynchburg. The K-Tribe took the first game of a doubleheader at Potomac this afternoon 5-3 to trim their magic number to one. The Indians, who will move to Zebulon, NC for the 2012 season, are making a push to leave on a high note and can clinch the final playoff berth tonight with a win in the twinbill's second game or a Winston-Salem loss tonight in Lynchburg. Winston-Salem's postseason hopes are on life support and they'll need to win their last two games while Kinston drops its last two games. Up in the Northern Division, the Potomac Nationals have already punched their playoff ticket to face the first-half champion Frederick Keys, but they still have a slim chance to beat the Keys for the second-half crown. The Keys' magic number to lock down the double-half title and home field advantage against Potomac in the first round is down to one, but with their 4-1 loss this afternoon in Wilmington, they need a Potomac loss in the doubleheader finale to clinch tonight.

WIZARD OF 'OZZY': Lost in the disappointing defeat last night was the outstanding performance on the hill by Zach Osborne, who made a spot start and was in line for the win before the lead evaporated in the ninth. The right-hander made his first start of 2011 and just the fourth of his young career, shutting out the Red Sox for five innings on only one hit. "Ozzy" set down the first eight men he faced before Zach Gentile singled in the third for the only knock against him. He started the fourth by plunking Heiker Meneses, but he recovered to retire the next six batters and end his night. Osborne set a new career high in innings pitched with five, surpassing a four-inning relief outing in the Pelicans' 23-inning loss in Kinston on June 12. He also tossed four innings in his last start, which came on July 1, 2010 at Tri-City when he was with Short Season-A Spokane. Zach began his career with three starts with the Indians before moving to the bullpen for his next 48 appearances prior to last night.

NO LUCKY SEVEN: Last night's surprising loss snapped the Pelicans' six-game home winning streak against Salem. The Red Sox rolled to an 8-1 win in the first meeting in Myrtle Beach between these two clubs on May 24. The Birds bounced back with a pair of come-from-behind victories the next two nights to win the series and take over first place for good en route to the first-half title. Myrtle Beach then swept four games from the Red Sox at home July 13-16, with the last two coming in walk-off fashion. The Pelicans still hold a 10-8 lead in the season series, including a 6-2 mark at BB&T Coastal Field.

NINTH INNING BLUES: Holding a ninth-inning lead has been nearly automatic for the Pelicans in 2011, but they have lost the last two games in which they carried a lead at home into the final inning. For much of the season, the only loss in such a game was on the second night of the season, when Wilmington's Rey Navarro homered off Trevor Hurley in a monsoon to tie the game in the ninth on April 9. The game would be suspended and picked up the next day when the Blue Rocks won it in 11. They won the next 49 games in which they led through eight until Ryan Kelly squandered a one-run lead in the ninth to Lynchburg before the Hillcats won in 11 on August 23. The Birds did not hold a ninth-inning lead at home until last night, when Jimmy Reyes surrendered four runs in the ninth to blow a 4-1 advantage. The only team to lose more games in which they've led through eight than the Pelicans' three are tonight's opponent, the Salem Red Sox, who have lost five.

TEXAS IS TOPS: The Texas Rangers are regarded as having one of baseball's best farm systems. On the field in 2011, the Rangers are showing they're far and away the club with the best minor league affiliates. Entering play on Sunday, the cumulative record of the Rangers' minor league teams is 428-327 (.567), an astounding 20 games better than the second-best organizational record, the Dodgers' 406-345 mark (.541). Six out of seven Rangers affiliates are over .500 and amazingly, Myrtle Beach's record of 72-65 is the second-worst mark in the system. Triple-A Round Rock won the PCL Northern division and is 85-57 and Double-A Frisco is 78-60 and postseason bound in the Texas League. Low-A Hickory (79-56) won the South Atlantic League first-half title and is leading in the second half as well. In Short Season ball, the AZL Rangers went 38-18 before falling in the semifinals, the DSL Rangers went 41-30 and Spokane was the only club to finish with a losing record at 35-41.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from September 4, 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.

OurSports Central