Balego, Mitchell homer in Birds' fifth-straight home win

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (May 14, 2019) - Cam Balego and Kevonte Mitchell each homered in the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 5-2 win over the Winston-Salem Dash on Tuesday night at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.

Zach Lewis got off to a hot start on the mound for the Dash as he cruised through the first two innings, before running into trouble in the third. Jhonny Bethencourt singled to lead off the inning and after he stole second base, Carlos Sepulveda sacrificed him over to third and Bethencourt scored on a sacrifice fly from Zach Davis that made it 1-0 Birds.
The Dash scratched a run across in the top of the third when JJ Muno singled home Jameson Fisher that tied the game at 1-1. 
The Pelicans retook a 3-1 lead in the third when Balego and Mitchell each launched solo homers to put the Birds back in front.
From that point on, Paul Richan (4-2) really settled in. The Pelicans' starter went a career-high 6.2 innings and allowed just one run on seven hits to earned his fourth win of the season. 
Myrtle Beach was not done scoring either as they plated two more runs in the seventh inning to extend the lead to 5-1. Jimmy Herron collected an RBI single and Miguel Amaya followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Pelicans a four-run lead entering the eighth inning. 
Winston-Salem scored a run in the top of the ninth inning on an RBI double from Yeyson Yrizarri to cut the game to 5-2, but Manuel Rodriguez forced Tyler Frost to ground out to end the ballgame.
Myrtle Beach has now won five-consecutive games at home.
The Birds will look to secure the series win in game three on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. The reigning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week, Javier Assad (1-3, 2.70) will take the hill for Myrtle Beach against Cristian Castillo (1-4, 4.85) for the Dash.
Coverage will begin at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.tv and the Pelicans Baseball Network, which is available on the TuneIn App, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast and MiLB First Pitch app.
Wednesday will be Weiner Wednesday featuring buy one, get one free hot dogs presented by WPDE. 
The 2019 season is the 21st season for the Pelicans franchise and fifth as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For tickets visit MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/tickets, call (843) 918-6000, or visit the Pelicans Box Office.
ABOUT THE PELICANS: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and play their home games at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since being acquired by a group led by Chuck Greenberg during the 2006 season, the Pelicans have repeatedly set team attendance records and become known as one of Minor League Baseball's most innovative and creative franchises. The team and its employees have been dedicated to making a difference in the Myrtle Beach community, specifically giving back over $2 million in donations, fundraising proceeds, in-kind services and community service since launching the Pelicans Play It Forward Community Initiative in 2013. TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark has ranked in the top eight in all of Minor League Baseball by Stadium Journey in six of the last seven seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences and the best in the Carolina League for six of the past seven seasons. In June 2017, the Pelicans won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. On the field, the team has won four Mills Cup Championships, including claims to back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000, and again in 2015 and 2016. The Pelicans have made 11 postseason appearances behind 13 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season, second half of 2016 and first half of 2017. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or email [email protected].