Pitching struggles, Birds lose fourth straight

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (April 16, 2019) - Myrtle Beach could not slow down the Frederick Keys offense on Tuesday night as the Keys exploded for eight runs on 11 hits in their 8-2 win at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.

Ryan Kellogg (1-1) was called upon for his first start since August 20, 2017 for the Pelicans (2-11) and was dominant through three innings. Kellogg faced just one over the minimum and allowed just two hits through the first third of the ballgame, but ran into trouble in the fourth.
The Keys (5-7) led the fourth inning off with back-to-back base hits. Trevor Craport later knocked in a run with a base hit, Jean Carrillo banged home two runs with a double and Ryan Ripken added on with an RBI single to make it 4-0. 
Myrtle Beach answered and made it 4-1 in the bottom half of the inning when Tyler Payne drove home D.J. Wilson for the Birds' first run of the ballgame. 
After the Keys scored a run in the top of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 5-1, Myrtle Beach countered with a run of their own as Zach Davis raced around the bases to score on a single from Carlos Sepulveda and the Keys lead was cut to 5-2. 
Frederick blew things open in the top of the ninth inning as a three-run homer by Ryan Ripken made it 8-2 and served as the final blow in the Pelicans fourth-consecutive loss. 
Brenan Hanifee (1-1) earned the win for the Keys after allowing just one run through five innings of work. 
The Birds will wrap up their seven-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Keys. Bryan Hudson (0-0, 3.60) will make his third start of the season and will go up against Michael Baumann (0-0, 0.00) for the Keys. 
Wednesday will be Weiner Wednesday featuring buy-one, get-one free hotdogs 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].