Alamo's three-homer day paves way for twin bill sweep

WILMINGTON, Del. (August 19, 2017) - The Pelicans' offense slugged five home runs, including three from Tyler Alamo , in Saturday's doubleheader, leading Myrtle Beach to 9-1 and 4-2 victories in a sweep of the twin bill over the Wilmington Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium. 
With Myrtle Beach (67-59, 24-32) and Wilmington (64-61, 25-30) scoreless after an inning, Tyler Pearson crushed a solo home run over the left field wall off Blue Rocks starter Cristian Castillo (6-11) to get the Birds rolling in game one.

With one out in the top of the third inning, Jesse Hodges reached on a walk before he stole second base. Alamo extended the Pelicans' lead with a two-run home run to left field, making the score 3-0.
In the fourth, Zack Short swatted the Birds' third home run of the contest with a solo home run to give the Birds their fourth run in as many frames. 
Myrtle Beach starter Kyle Miller tossed four no-hit innings striking out a pair of batters in the contest.
Alamo kicked off the fifth inning with his second home run of the contest to give the Pelicans a 5-0 advantage. With one out in the frame, Pearson was hit by a pitch before advancing home on an RBI double from Adonis Paula. 
Wander Franco broke up the Pelicans no-hit bid in the bottom of the fifth inning with an infield single. Travis Maezes followed Franco with a double to left field, putting two runners in scoring position. Wilmington's lone run of the inning scored on a groundout from Nathan Esposito to make the tally 6-1. 
Trent Giambrone was hit by a pitch leading off the sixth inning. Alamo drew a walk to join Giambrone on base before both runners advanced 90 feet on Eddy Martinez's single to load the bases. With two outs in the frame, Adonis Paula drew a walk, allowing Giambrone to trot home. With the score 7-1, pinch hitter Vimael Machin singled to center field to bring in Alamo and Martinez and make the score 9-1. 
Dakota Mekkes (4-1) picked up the victory in game one, as the right-hander yielded just one run over two innings of work. Jordan Minch finished off the Bue Rocks with a scoreless seventh inning to give the Birds a 9-1 game one victory.
In the finale, Connor Myers reached on a fielder's choice before he advanced to third on an infield bunt single from Robert Garcia and Blue Rocks error. Short's sacrifice fly brought in Myers to allow Myrtle Beach to strike first. 
Nick Heath led off the Wilmington third inning with a single to right field before advancing to second on a base hit from Jecksson Flores. A passed ball allowed both runners to move into scoring position, Roman Collins grounded out to first base, allowing Heath to score. WIth the game tied at one, Brandon Downes lifted a sacrfice fly to right field, plating Flores to give the Blue Rocks their first lead of the day at 2-1. 
The Blue Rocks lead was relenquished in the fourth as Alamo's torrid day continued. Giambrone led off the frame with a base hit before Alamo launched a one-out, two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Birds their second lead of the contest at 3-2. 
Myers led off the fifth inning with a base knock for Myrtle Beach. With one out in the frame, Myers swiped second base. P.J. Higgins  laced a two-out RBI single into center field to bring in Myers and double the Pelicans' advantage over Wilmington to 4-2. 
Pelicans' game two starter Thomas Hatch (5-10) pitched five innings and ceded just two earned runs on six hits en route to his fifth win of the season. Pedro Araujo picked up his 10th save of the season with three strikeouts in two perfect frames.
Myrtle Beach bids for the sweep in Sunday's 1:35 p.m. contest. The Birds will send LHP Ryan Kellogg  (4-7, 5.50 ERA) to the mound to oppose Blue Rocks RHP Jacob Bodner (5-1, 3.42 ERA). Coverage will begin at 1:20 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app. 
The 2017 season is the 19th season for the Pelicans franchise and third as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2017, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.
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. The park has ranked in the top eight in all of Minor League Baseball by Stadium Journey in each of the last six seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences in all of sports in each of the last six years and the best in the Carolina League for six straight seasons as well. In May 2015, TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark won the 2015 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. The Pelicans are the two-time defending Mills Cup Champions, winning the title in 2015 and 2016 as well as 2000 and co-Mills Cup championship honors in the inaugural 1999 season. The Pelicans have made ten postseason appearances behind 12 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season and second half of 2016. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or emailing [email protected]