Franco's walk-off double spoils Pelicans' bid at sweep

ZEBULON, N.C. (JULY 6, 2015) - After two straight victories by 12 runs, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, lost in walk-off fashion 3-2 to the Carolina Mudcats at Five County Stadium on Monday night. With one out, Carlos Franco laced an RBI double to right field to score Dustin Peterson from first base for the clinching run.

Fernando Cruz had retired six straight men when he returned for his third inning of relief, but he walked Peterson on six pitches to open the ninth. After a strikeout of Jacob Schrader, Cruz allowed the walk-off winner to Franco a 3-0 pitch.

The walk-off defeat was the Pelicans third this season and second walk-off win for Carolina on the year. The loss spoiled the Pelicans chances to sweep Carolina for the second time this year. The club trounced the Mudcats 16-4 on Saturday and 12-0 on Sunday.

Myrtle Beach (46-35, 5-7 second half) erased a 2-1 hole on back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning to tie things up. In Carolina starter Blair Walters' final inning of work, Kevin Brown and Trey Martin smoked consecutive doubles to tie things up. Despite four more baserunners, however, the Pelicans failed to score, going 0-for-6 in their final six at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The Pelicans scored first on Monday as well, getting an RBI single from Daniel Lockhart in the second inning to go up 1-0.

Carolina (40-41, 6-6 second half), however, plated the next two runs. Jeremy Null worked a scoreless first and second, but three singles tied the game in the third. Peterson, who scored the winning run in the ninth inning, lined a two-out RBI single to left to tie the game at 1-1.

In the following inning, catcher Joe Odom crushed his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot to left field, to put the Mudcats ahead 2-1.

After the Pelicans tied the contest, both teams kept the opposition at bay in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.

Between Odom's homer in the fourth and Franco's walk-off double in the ninth, the Mudcats, who had just six hits on Monday, did not collect a hit and had only two baserunners.

With the loss, Myrtle Beach is now in third place, 2.5 games back of Winston-Salem, in the second half Southern Division standings. Carolina is now second.

After the quick three-game road trip, the Pelicans now return home for a seven-game homestand, beginning with three against the Winston-Salem Dash. First pitch at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark on Tuesday evening is set for 7:05 p.m. ET. Brad Markey (---, -.-- ERA) makes his Carolina League debut and just his second professional start. The Dash will oppose with righty Brandon Brennan (0-2, 5.27 ERA).

The game can be heard live on 1450 WRNN-AM ESPN Myrtle Beach, on the TuneIn Radio App, and via the MiLB First Pitch App, beginning with the Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m. ET. The game will also air along with live streaming video on MiLB.tv (subscription required).

Tuesday night is Face Your Fears Night and a $2sday Brewsday with $2.00 craft beers served from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Every home game features a pregame autograph session and every night, kids 12-and-under can run the bases postgame, courtesy of Sweet Frog. 

The 2015 season marks the 17th season for the Pelicans franchise and first as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2015, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.