MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) – Mike Rucker extended his scoreless streak to 20 innings with five shutout frames Saturday in the Myrtle Beach Pelicans’ 2-0 win over the Down East Wood Ducks at TicketReturn.Com Field.
Rucker (3-2) dominated for Myrtle Beach (55-43, 12-16), as the right-hander tossed five shutout frames and whiffed seven Down East (37-61, 13-16) batters to extend his scoreless streak to 20 consecutive innings. Casey Bloomquist followed Rucker with two scoreless innings before giving way to David Berg , who pitched two perfect innings for his first save of the season. The Pelicans recorded their league-high 14th shutout of the campaign.
The only offense that was provided for either side came in the bottom of the second inning. With one out in the frame, P.J. Higgins reached second base on an error. Adonis Paula joined Higgins on base as the right-handed batter drew a walk to put two Pelicans on. A Robert Garcia infield single then loaded the bases. Roberto Caro made it four straight batters to reach with a free pass from Wood Ducks starter Jonathan Hernandez (1-4) to force in a run. With the bases still loaded, Zack Short laced a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Paula to make the score 2-0.
Myrtle Beach and Down East will play Sunday at 6:05 p.m. in the rubber match of their five-game set.