MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (July 22, 2019) – The Myrtle Beach Pelicans downed the Salem Red Sox 6-1 in the conclusion of Sunday’s suspended game before they fell to the Sox 5-1 in a seven-inning contest on Monday night from TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.

On Sunday, the Pelicans (17-15, 38-61) jumped on the Red Sox (20-11, 45-53) in the bottom of the first inning. Carlos Sepulveda  doubled, advanced to third on a throwing error from Nick Sciortino  and scored on a sacrifice fly from Delvin Zinn  and the Pelicans took a 1-0 lead after the first.

The Birds added to their lead in the fifth inning when Sepulveda knocked in Tyler Payne and Grant Fennell  with an RBI single off of starter Daniel Gonzalez  (L, 4-7) and the Pelicans led 3-0 after the fifth. 

Paul Richan  (W, 10-4) was lights out for the Pelicans as he retired the first eight batters of the game before allowing his first baserunner in the third inning. Richan ended up going 6.2 innings before he was lifted after Jagger Rusconi  singled with two outs in the seventh inning. Ryan Lawlor  entered the game out of the bullpen and after he surrendered a single to Michael Osinski , Sciortino grounded a ball to short and an error kept the inning alive and Rusconi scored on the play which made it 3-1 Pelicans in the seventh. 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Pelicans exploded for three runs to take a 6-1 advantage. Fennell opened the action with a single and after Sepulveda doubled for the second time in the game, a passed ball allowed Fennell to score from third and the Birds extended their lead to 4-1. 

One batter later, Delvin Zinn made it 5-1 with an RBI single that plated Sepulveda and Zinn later scored in the inning on a wild pitch to stake the Pelicans to a 6-1 lead. 

The game was then suspended entering the eighth inning and was resumed on Monday. When the game resumed, Chad Hockin took the hill for the Birds in the restarted contest and fired a pair of scoreless innings to seal the 6-1 win for the Pelicans. 

In the series finale, the Red Sox took the first tally. After Victor Acosta drew a walk with two outs in the inning, Pedro Castellanos tripled to right and Acosta scored to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. 

Salem added to that lead in the fourth when they loaded the bases against Erich Uelmen (L, 4-3) and plated a pair on a two-run single from Charlie Madden that made it 3-0. 

The Red Sox took a 5-0 lead in the sixth inning when Madden brought in two more on a single off the wall in left, but Madden was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pelicans found the scoreboard for the first time. After Miguel Amaya doubled with one out in the frame, he came around to score when Jimmy Herron reached on an error and made it a 5-1 game, but that is all the Birds could muster. 

Jhonathan Diaz (W, 5-6) continued his torrid month of July for Salem as he tossed five, shutout innings to earn the win for the Red Sox.

The Birds will now hit the road for a six-game roadtrip with stops in Frederick and Salem on tap. 

Myrtle Beach will take on the Frederick Keys at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night and they will send LHP Jack Patterson (2-0, 0.00) to the hill, while Frederick has yet to name a starter for the game. Coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast and the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Apps.

Courtesy: Myrtle Beach Pelicans