Martinez masterful as Birds edge P-Nats

WOODBRIDGE, VA. (SEPTEMBER 2, 2015) - Right-hander Jonathan Martinez, who was activated off the disabled list on Wednesday, pitched six shutout innings in his return to lead the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, to a 4-2 win over the Potomac Nationals at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium. In their Pelicans debuts, center fielder Jeffrey Baez went 1-for-4 at the plate with a triple and a run scored, while top Cubs prospect, shortstop Gleyber Torrez, finished 0-for-2 with a walk.

Fans at "The Pfitz" witnessed a pitchers' duel unfold on Wednesday between Martinez and Nationals hurler Austen Williams. The Potomac right-hander walked a batter in the third inning, and again in the fourth, and his defense committed the first of three errors on the night, yet he kept a no-hit bid alive through his first five innings of work. The Pelicans (78-54, 37-26 second half), however, ended that bid, along with the shutout, with a three-run sixth frame.

In the sixth, Chesny Young reached on a fielding error at third base. Mark Zagunis followed with an infield single, and after a fly out, Victor Caratini rocketed a two-run double to right field, and he moved to third on a missed catch error at the plate. With the Birds leading 2-0, Jacob Rogers followed with an RBI single to right-center for a 3-0 Pelicans advantage.

Despite a quality start, Williams (4-5) took the loss. He was charged with three runs, none of them earned, and finished with two strikeouts and two walks across six innings of work.

The Nationals (63-71, 30-34 second half) sent reliever Brian Dupra to the hill to take over for Williams in the seventh, and the new righty surrendered another run. Baez, in his third at-bat of the night, tattooed a leadoff triple to the right-field wall, and two batters later, Ben Carhart knocked him in with an RBI single to left, stretching the Birds lead to 4-0.

On the Pelicans pitching side, Martinez allowed one hit and a pair of walks through his first four innings of work. When the game was still scoreless in the fifth, back-to-back two-out singles put the go-ahead run into scoring position, but Martinez worked out of the jam with a fly out, keeping the shutout effort alive.

Martinez (9-2) finished with six scoreless innings in the book and lowered his league-leading ERA to 2.58 en route to the win. The right-hander allowed four hits on the night, while fanning two and walking three, and he extended his scoreless innings streak to 18 consecutive innings.

Martinez gave way to left-handed reliever Michael Heesch, who tossed a scoreless seventh before the Nationals' bats came alive in the eighth. An infield single, a fielder's choice, and a double put two men in scoring position for right fielder Brenden Webb, who ended the shutout with a ground out to first. Third baseman Drew Ward followed with an RBI single to left that ended Heesch's night. With The Pelicans still leading 4-2, David Berg took over on the hill, and after a fielding error at shortstop, Berg ended the threat with a strikeout of second baseman Khayyan Norfork.

The Pelicans were retired in order in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the frame, Berg surrendered a two-out infield single, but he induced a groundout to short to nail down his fourth save of the year and the 4-2 win for the Pelicans.

Torres, the top Cubs prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, finished 0-for-2 with a walk out of the ninth spot in the lineup in his Pelicans debut. The shortstop put two balls in play and hit them both hard to center field, but he flew out each time.

The Pelicans wrap their three-game set against Potomac on Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch. Myrtle Beach will hand the ball to right-hander Duane Underwood Jr. (6-3, 2.63), and the Nationals will send lefty Matthew Spann (2-7, 4.66) to the mound.

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. Click here for a current schedule of the Pelicans final regular season games.

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.