Shutout Win Earns Big Split for Birds

June 14, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release

WOODBRIDGE, VA - Barret Loux and Johan Yan conspired to blank the Potomac Nationals on two hits and help the Myrtle Beach Pelicans bounce back from a 5-1 game one setback with a 2-0 nightcap win to split a Tuesday doubleheader at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium.

With the Pelicans winding down their final road trip of the first half and the Kinston Indians hot on their heels, a split was vital in the Tuesday twinbill to keep Myrtle Beach's margin at two and one-half games after Kinston's win over the Salem Red Sox during the evening. Having fallen in game one, the Pelicans handed the ball to Loux who responded with five innings of one-hit, shutout ball, serving as an effective stopper. Myrtle Beach's righty struggled with his command in the first inning, walking the bases loaded, but after working out of the jam with a J.P. Ramirez flyout, Loux settled in, facing just one over the minimum the rest of the way. The Texas A&M product struck out seven while not walking a batter after the first.

The Pelicans took the only lead they needed in the second on a pair of two-out infield singles by Ryan Strausborger and Zach Zaneski scoring Leury Garcia and Strausborger respectively. The two tallies went charged to Adam Olbrychowski (1-3) whoo took the defeat.

Righty Yan replaced Loux (6-3) for the sixth and breezed through his first inning before running into trouble in the seventh. With one out, Ramirez walked, and Brian Peacock doubled him to third to put the tying runs in scoring position. Yan (S, 6) whiffed J.R. Higley for the second out of the inning, however, and induced a game-ending grounder to second by pinch hitter Destin Hood to close it out.

In the opener, Myrtle Beach's offense, shaking off the doldrums of Sunday's Carolina League-record 23-inning affair followed by a Monday rainout, sputtered against P-Nats starter Cameron Selik. Boosted by a two-run second and two-run sixth, Selik (2-1) held the Pelicans to one run on four hits while completing all seven innings.

The Nationals roughed up Pelicans starter Justin Grimm for five runs, four earned, on seven hits over five and two-thirds. Grimm (2-1) saw his ERA jump from 0.96 to 2.22 with the loss. Despite Myrtle Beach loading the bases down four in the final inning, Selik got Jared Hoying to fly out to the warning track to end it and give the Nationals a 5-1 victory in the early game.

With the Pelicans' nightcap victory, Myrtle Beach cut its magic number to clinching the Carolina League Southern Division first-half title down to three. Kinston's victory over Salem gave the Indians a half-game gain on the Birds, but the Pelicans remain two and a half up on the K-Tribe with five games left in Myrtle Beach's first-half schedule. The Pelicans' game one loss coupled with Kinston's win eliminated any chance of Myrtle Beach clinching the division away from BB&T Coastal Field via the series finale with the Nats.

Wednesday brings a 10:30 a.m. series finale for the Pelicans and Nationals, the teams' second morning contest against each other in 2011. Myrtle Beach crushed Potomac 20-6 back on May 6 in another daytime affair at Pfitzner Stadium.

After this six-game road trip, the Pelicans wrap up the Carolina League season's first half with a four-game series against the Frederick Keys from June 16-19 at BB&T Coastal Field. Tickets for all Pelicans home games can be purchased by visiting the BB&T Coastal Field box office, the Tickets page at MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, or by calling (843)918-6000 or (877)918-TIXX.

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Carolina League Stories from June 14, 2011

• Shutout Win Earns Big Split for Birds - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
• Rocks Split Twinbill at Lynchburg - Wilmington Blue Rocks
• Hillcats Split with Blue Rocks - Lynchburg Hillcats
• Selik and Loux Trade Gems in Doubleheader Split - Potomac Nationals
• Error Laden Game Is Another Keys Win - Frederick Keys
• Errors in Vogue as Winston Falls 8-3 - Winston-Salem Dash
• Kinston Beats Sox 5-2 - Kinston Indians
• Reichenbach's Symphony: Kinston Downs Salem 5-2 - Salem Red Sox
• Whittleman Added to All-Star Team - Wilmington Blue Rocks
• Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
• Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes - Winston-Salem Dash
• Pelicans Game Notes - Myrtle Beach Pelicans

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