CarL Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Strand 17, Lose 4-3 to GreenJackets

Published on April 21, 2023 under Carolina League (CarL)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


Friday night marked the fourth straight game in this series that was decided by one run, as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans fell 4-3 to the Augusta GreenJackets. The Birds drop back to .500 at 6-6 this season while the GreenJackets improve to 5-6. Each of the last five games for the Pelicans has been decided by just a single run.

While the lineup collected eight hits, just three runs came across the plate with at least one runner being stranded in each inning but the first. Cristian Hernandez (2-3, 3B, RBI, BB) had a big game at the plate, increasing the Pelicans' triples streak to four games. Reivaj Garcia (2-6, RBI) knocked in a run and smashed two singles in the loss.

Angel Hernandez (0-1) took the loss with two earned runs through his two innings in relief off four hits and a walk while striking out two. Starter Brody McCullough struck out a career-high of seven in his four innings with two unearned runs allowed. Kevin Valdez stabilized the GreenJackets' order with three shutout innings without allowing a hit and two strikeouts.

For Augusta, it was Justin Janas (2-4, RBI) collecting two singles and an RBI to pace the visitors. Mahki Backstrom (1-4, RBI) also brought home a run with a single in the sixth. The GreenJackets left just four on base after tallying six hits as a team.

It was another solid night on the mound for the GreenJackets' pitching staff with reliever Jared Johnson (1-0) taking the win with two runs, one earned through 1 2/3 frames. Johnson walked two and struck out three after Owen Murphy's 3 1/3 inning start, where he struck out five. After a rocky ninth, Elison Joseph picked up his first save of the year with three strikeouts in his lone inning.

It took until the fourth for Augusta to pick up their first hit where they also scored their first two runs. After Ethan Workinger and Janas singled, E.J. Exposito came up with two outs. Exposito hit a routine ground ball back to McCullough on the mound, who threw wild to first as both runners came in to give the GreenJackets a 2-0 lead. Both runs were unearned on McCullough.

The Pelicans responded quickly in the bottom of the fifth as Cristian Hernandez tripled in the right-center field gap on the first pitch of the inning. Garcia took the next pitch to left field to plate Hernandez and put the Pelicans on the board. Later in the inning, Felix Stevens drew a walk with the bases loaded to even the score at two.

Augusta went right back up in the top of the sixth. With one out and a runner on second, Janas grounded a single up the middle to score Workinger and the lead flipped back to the visitors. Backstrom later singled with two outs to push another run across the plate and increase the lead to 4-2.

The Pelicans left runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, before stranding the bases loaded in the ninth. With one out and the bases loaded, Cristian Hernandez drew a walk to bring in Jefferson Encarnacion from third to make it a 4-3 game. Joseph struck out the following two batters to end the game.

With the series tied 2-2, both teams will look for an edge in game five on Saturday evening at 6:05 p.m. from Pelicans Ballpark.

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Carolina League Stories from April 21, 2023


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