CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans Take Wild Slugfest 15-9

August 19, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Myrtle Beach Pelicans fell in a quick hole, but charged out of it in style. After the Kinston Indians scored five runs in the first inning, the Birds battled back with six in the second and seven in the third on their way to a wacky 15-9 win at BB&T Coastal Field on Friday. Newcomer Andrew Clark led the Myrtle Beach attack with a home run and three runs batted in.

The K-Tribe roared out of the gate in the first, scoring five runs as the first seven batters reached base. The first run came home on a throwing error by starting pitcher Justin Grimm and two batters later, Jesus Aguilar cranked a grand slam that made it a 5-0 game.

After a couple of singles, Grimm struck out eight-hitter Roberto Perez for the first out before being removed for righty hurler Zach Osborne. Grimm allowed five runs, four earned, on four hits, walking one batter, hitting one and striking out one.

Myrtle Beach answered back with a six-run second inning to take the lead. Ryan Strausborger tripled to tie the game and when the Indians tried to nail the runner at third, the ball skipped into the dugout to allow Strausborger to come all the way home and make it a 6-5 game. That knocked K-Tribe starter T.J. House after only two frames, the lefty allowed six runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Kinston took the lead back in the third inning on another homer from Aguilar, a two-run shot that gave the Indians a 7-6 lead. The Pelicans outdid their six-run second inning by following with seven runs in the third, all against Indians reliever Jose Flores (4-4). The big Myrtle Beach knocks in that frame were two doubles by Santiago Chirino and Jared Prince. Only three innings into the contest, it looked like a football game at BB&T Coastal Field as the Birds led 13-7.

The top of the fourth brought more scoring as Kinston plated two off Zach Osborne (4-2) to cut the Myrtle Beach lead to 13-9, but Andrew Clark launched a two-run homer to right field in the fifth off Kyle Landis to restore the six-run advantage. Since being promoted from low-A Hickory on Sunday, Clark has hit .348 (8-for-23) with two homers, ten RBIs and four runs scored in six games with the Pelicans.

Astoundingly, the offenses were shut down after the fifth inning. Ryan Kelly tossed three scoreless frames for Myrtle Beach from the fifth through the seventh and Trey Haley did the same for Kinston from the sixth through the eighth. Lefty Jimmy Reyes, who debuted for the Pelicans on Tuesday in Salem after a call-up from low-A Hickory, made his first home appearance in the eighth. He allowed three hits in the final two frames, but did not let up a run as he closed it out.

The production was evenly distributed throughout the Myrtle Beach lineup as every batter recorded a hit and scored a run. Seven of the nine notched multiple hits, including Jared Hoying, who was the only one with three. Six Pelicans scored exactly two runs and seven Birds drove in a run, including five with multiple RBIs.

Aguilar led Kinston with three hits, including the two homers, and drove in six on the night. Six Indians picked up hits in the loss, and all of them had more than one.

There were 24 runs and 31 hits tallied in the game, making it the highest scoring affair for Kinston in 2011, but it wasn't the highest total in a Pelicans game. The Birds shelled Potomac 20-6 on May 3 to beat tonight's total by two.

The win puts the Pelicans only three and one-half games back of Kinston, who fell into a tie with the Winston-Salem Dash, who were rained out at Potomac.

The four-game series, now even at 1-1, continues on Saturday night with a matchup of lefties as Chad Bell (2-1, 3.21) goes for the Pelicans against Kinston's Mike Rayl (1-1, 3.27). Tickets for all Pelicans home games, including the postseason, are available at the BB&T Coastal Field box office, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, and by phone at 843-918-6000 or 877-918-TIXX.

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Carolina League Stories from August 19, 2011


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