CarL1 Salem Red Sox

Pelicans Slip Past Red Sox 3-2 on Independece Day

July 4, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem Red Sox News Release


Myrtle Beach, SC - A see-saw pitcher's duel was decided when Michael Fisher drove home a pair with a clutch RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, setting the stage for Pelican closer Craig Kimbrel to close the door in the ninth in Myrtle Beach's 3-2 victory. Fisher's two-run single off Jason Rice catapulted the Pelicans to a 3-2 lead. Then, despite a leadoff double by David Mailman to begin the top of the ninth for Salem, Kimbrel retired the next three batters, two by way of the K, to record his second save and preserve the victory.

Kyle Weiland and David Francis each were spectacular in the starting role, and through five and a half innings, neither team threatened offensively. Weiland encountered a bit of turbulence in the sixth when, with two outs, he walked Gerry Rodriguez and gave up a single to Robert Marcial. Fisher, 0-2 at that point, came through with his first key base hit, driving in Rodriguez to make it a 1-0 game. After CJ Lee was hit-by-a pitch, one of three HBP's absorbed by Lee in the game, Weiland induced an inning-ending ground ball from Luis Sumoza to strand the bases loaded.

David Francis finally had a lead after six shutout innings, but the right-hander was removed after a one-out walk in the seventh put Tim Federowicz at first. Benino Puneda came on and struggled with his commence, giving up a single to Mailman before walking a pair, one of them a bases loaded pass that tied the game. Jason Place connected for an infield single up the middle that gave Salem a 2-1 lead, but Mike Jones struck out, and much like the Pelicans in the inning before, the Red Sox left them loaded.

Early missed opportunities loomed larger in the eighth inning when Jason Rice surrendered the two-run single to Fisher and the Pelicans jumped back on top. In the ninth, Mailman doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch with nobody out, but two strikeouts and a Lin grounder to short ended the comeback bid.

Although Pruneda yielded the lead in the seventh, he struck out the side in the eighth and was the beneficiary of the late-game run support, picking up his first win of the year. Rice endured the loss, giving up two runs in two innings of work.

The eight and nine hitters, Marcial and Fisher, combined for four of the seven hits for the Pelicans, while Mailman went 3-4 to represent half of the six hits in the light Red Sox attack.

Salem now seeks a split of the four-game set with the Pelicans on Sunday evening, with Eammon Portice set to start for the Red Sox in a 6:05 tilt. Jose Ortegano is expected to start for the second time in four days for Myrtle Beach since Richard Sullivan is headed up to Double-A to make a spot start for Mississippi. Ortegano went two scoreless innings on Thursday night in his first action since returning from the DL.

Check out the Salem Red Sox Statistics



Carolina League Stories from July 4, 2009


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