Sports stats



CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Game Notes

September 10, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


RHP Kennil Gomez (2-7, 3.81) at LHP Mike Rayl (1-3, 4.61)

ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: The Pelicans are on the brink of elimination in the Southern Division Championship Series after a 7-0 loss to the Kinston Indians at Grainger Stadium on Friday. Three batters into the bottom of the first inning, the K-Tribe took a 3-0 lead on Adam Abraham's three-run homer off Miguel De Los Santos. Kinston added two more in the second inning on a Tyler Holt two-run double. De Los Santos settled in to retire 10 of the last 11 batters he faced, but the damage was done. The Birds' bats could not plate a run against Indians starter Michael Goodnight, who held the visitors to four hits in five innings before relievers Chris Jones, Trey Haley and Preston Guilmet finished the shutout without allowing a hit. Holt tripled home two more runs in the sixth inning as the leadoff man finished a home run shy of the cycle.

UGLY TURNAROUND: The Pelicans looked great in a 4-1 win in Game One of the SDCS on Wednesday, and they looked even better when they roared out of the gate in Game Two, taking a 5-0 lead in the first inning. Things took a sudden turn for the worse as the Pelicans have since been outscored 15-1 by Kinston's offense that ranked last in the Carolina League in both runs scored and batting average in 2011. Southpaw starters Chad Bell and Miguel De Los Santos, who starred in the second half of the season for Myrtle Beach, were torched in Games Two and Three, respectively (11 R/7.2 IP - 12.91 ERA). The Pelicans also suffered at the plate as they have gone without a run in their last 17 innings. They are hitless in their last 14 at bats with runners in scoring position, and have not gotten a hit of any kind since Andrew Clark's double with one out in the fourth inning last night.

TALL ORDER: The Pelicans have their backs to the wall tonight as they try to stave off elimination and force a winner-take-all Game Five. Over the past six seasons in the Carolina League playoffs, there have been seven teams that found themselves down 2-1 in a best-of-five series. Only two of those seven won Game Four to stay alive, and only one ended up coming back to win the series. Visiting teams tied the series at two only once in four tries. The Birds can find inspiration in the one team that did it on the road, the 2009 Lynchburg Hillcats. Like the 2011 Pelicans, Lynchburg won the first-half division title but finished in last place in the second half. The 'Cats also split the first two games of the Division Championship Series at home before dropping Game Three on the road. Myrtle Beach hopes to get on a roll the way Lynchburg did, as the Hillcats stunned Wilmington with a pair of 5-2 road victories before sweeping Salem in three games to win the Mills Cup.

ROAD WOES: If the Pelicans are going to advance to the Mills Cup Championship Series they'll have to win at Kinston tonight and tomorrow afternoon. The Pelicans have struggled away from BB&T Coastal Field in the second half, going 2-7-1 in ten road series after the All-Star break. The Pelicans have won back-to-back road games only twice since May 20. They won their first two road games of the second half in Salem to take the series (June 26-27) and they won their final three road games of the season in Wilmington for the other road-series victory (August 30-September 1). Those wins bookended a stretch that saw the Birds go 8-21 on the road from June 28 to August 29. At Grainger Stadium in 2011, the Birds split four games in April, lost two of three in June that included the Carolina League-record 23-inning affair, and also lost two of three in August.

PLAYOFF TROUBLES: The cumulative record of the Texas Rangers' minor league affiliates in 2011 was 431-332 (.565), setting a new franchise record for wins and finishing an astounding 17 1/2 games better than the second-best organizational record, the Dodgers' 412-348 mark (.542). But the while five of the six Stateside farm clubs made the postseason in their respective leagues, they have not fared well thus far in the playoffs, posting a 3-9 record. In addition to the Pelicans dropping two of three to Kinston, the Triple-A Round Rock Express are also down 2-1 in the American Conference Championship Series in the Pacific Coast League playoffs against the Omaha Storm Chasers. The Double-A Frisco RoughRiders also find themselves in a must-win spot, as they're behind 2-1 in the Texas League South Division Finals against the San Antonio Missions, who posted the best record in minor league baseball at 94-46. Low-A Hickory won the South Atlantic League first-half title and tied for the second-half crown as well, but last night they were swept 2-0 by the Greensboro Grasshoppers in the Northern Division Finals. In Short Season ball, the AZL Rangers went 38-18 before falling in the one-game semifinal to the AZL Dodgers 3-2.

MEANWHILE UP NORTH: There is one other series going on in the Carolina League postseason. The Potomac Nationals tied up the Northern Division Championship Series at 1-1 with an 8-0 road win over the Frederick Keys. The double-half champion Keys won a rain-shortened six-inning opening game 5-1 on Wednesday before a Thursday rainout pushed Game Two back to Thursday. The P-Nats got stellar pitching as Sammy Solis (4.2 IP), Neil Holland (2.1 IP), Joe Testa (0.2 IP) and Cameron Selik (1.1 IP) combined for an eight-hit shutout. The Potomac offense got off to a fast start against Keys starter Rick Zagone with Brian Peacock's two-run homer in the first inning and Francisco Soriano's three-run shot in the second. The Nationals have taken the home-field advantage away from Frederick as the series shifts to Woodbridge, VA for Games Three and Four on Saturday and Sunday. Should the two teams split the next two contests, the NDCS would swing back to Harry Grove Stadium for a Game Five in Frederick on Monday.

Check out the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Statistics

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

Carolina League Stories from September 10, 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