WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (August 15, 2017) – Strong starts from Ryan Kellogg and Casey Bloomquist in Tuesday’s doubleheader helped the Myrtle Beach Pelicans extend their winning streak to five games with 3-2 and 5-0 victories over the Winston-Salem Dash from BB&T Ballpark.
With the score tied at two in game one, Trent Giambrone began the sixth inning with a walk against Dash (48-74, 24-28) reliever Louie Lechich (2-5). A sacrifice bunt moved Giambrone to second before Tyler Alamo singled him to third. Eddy Martinez then lifted a sacrifice fly to left to give Myrtle Beach (64-58, 21-31) a 3-2 advantage.
Scott Effross recorded the final five outs in relief of Ryan Kellogg (4-7), who yielded two runs on four hits in 5.1 frames. Effross picked up his seventh save of the campaign.
Winston-Salem got on the board in their first at-bats against Kellogg. Toby Thomas doubled with one out. A walk and wild pitch put runners on the corners before Matt Rose hit a sacrifice fly to put the Dash ahead 1-0.
Alamo and Martinez jumpstarted the second with singles to put runners on first and third. A double play grounder allowed Alamo to score to knot the tally at one.
In the third, Zack Short , Giambrone and Jesse Hodges each notched singles with two outs. Hodges’ base hit plated Short to put the Birds up 2-1.
Winston-Salem answered in their half of the third to again tie the game. Back-to-back two-out doubles by Seby Zavala and Rose brought things to a two-all stalemate until the Pelicans’ rally in the sixth.
In the finale, Myrtle Beach played as the home team because of an earlier rainout, and even though the game was in Winston-Salem, Bloomquist (4-5) felt right at home. The right-hander hurled his first career complete game shutout, yielding just five hits while punching out four over seven innings.
All of the offense came from Myrtle Beach in the bottom of the second. Hodges was hit by a pitch leading off the frame before advancing to second base on a base hit from Alamo. A bunt single by Martinez loaded the bags. Robert Garcia drove home the first run of the frame a sacrifice fly out to left field to give the Birds a 1-0 lead. With Roberto Caro batting, Kelvis Valerio (3-4) threw a wild pitch that allowed Alamo to score. With runners on second and third, Daniel Gonzalez allowed a passed ball, bringing home Martinez. Myers then scored from third on a balk from Valerio, making the score 4-0.
Caro continued the inning by drawing a walk before an errant pickoff throw allowed the runner to advance all the way to third. Short promptly followed Caro with an RBI single into left field, giving the Birds their fifth tally of the frame.
Myrtle Beach cruised the rest of the way behind Bloomquist as the Pelicans earned their league-best 15th shutout of the season.
In the twin bill sweep, manager Buddy Bailey recorded his 1,993rd and 1,994th career victories, moving him into sole possession of 11th place in Minor League Baseball history.