Birds' bats lag in rubber match loss

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (June 6, 2017) - Myrtle Beach's bats went dormant Thursday despite a strong performance from the Pelicans' pitching staff in a 3-0 loss to the Buies Creek Astros in the rubber match game of their three-game set from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. 
Buies Creek (47-38, 10-5) cracked the scorecard against Myrtle Beach (48-36, 5-9) starter Justin Steele (6-5) in the second inning as Spencer Johnson lashed his third home run of the series to left field to give the Astros the 1-0 advantage. 

Stephen Wrenn kicked off the fourth inning for the Astros with a walk. With one out in the frame, Wrenn advanced to second on a groundout before scoring on a two-out single from Randy César to make the score 2-0. 
The Astros scored the final run of the contest in the ninth inning. Alex De Goti walked to begin the frame before advancing to third on a base hit to right field from Myles Straw. Ryne Birk delivered with a sacrifice fly to left field scoring De Goti and extending the 'Stros lead to 3-0.
Ryan Hartman (1-3) was the starter for Buies Creek, and he tossed five shutout innings and picked up his first win of the season before giving way to Hector Perez. The right-hander followed Hartman with four shutout innings to complete the shutout of the Pelicans. 
Steele allowed just two runs in 4.2 innings. David Berg followed Steele with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief before he gave way to Scott Effross, who allowed just one run in the final two innings of the contest for Myrtle Beach. 
Myrtle Beach will head to Frederick to take on the Keys with the opener of their four-game set on Friday at 7:00 p.m. RHP Duncan Robinson (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will oppose RHP Ofelky Peralta (1-7, 6.67 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
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].