Bullpen struggles in 10-5 loss

SALEM, Va. (May 22, 2017) - Thomas Hatch worked five shutout innings and Jesse Hodges notched three hits on Monday, but the Salem Red Sox rallied off the Myrtle Beach bullpen to defeat the Pelicans 10-5 at Haley Toyota Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
Myrtle Beach (23-22) led 4-0 after Hatch's five scoreless frames. The right-hander scattered just three hits and walked two against four strikeouts. However, Salem was able to rally against the Pelicans' bullpen.

Chad De La Guerra walked to begin the sixth inning against reliever Scott Effross and then Michael Chavis singled. An error brought in De La Cuerra to get Salem on the board. Trenton Kemp and Mike Meyers followed with RBI singles to pull the Red Sox to within 4-3. After a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, Jordan Betts knocked in both base runners to put Salem up 5-4.
Bryant Flete walked to begin the seventh inning and advanced all the way to third on a pair of wild pitches by reliever Jordan Weems (5-1). Later in the frame, Eddy Martinez knocked in Flete to knot the score at five.
The Pelicans brought in reliever Marc Huberman (0-1) to start the seventh inning. The south struck out De La Guerra before giving up a base hit to Chavis. Josh Ockimey followed with a two-run home run to left to put Salem ahead at 7-5.
With the same score in the eighth, Jordan Betts walked to begin the frame. A sacrifice bunt advanced him to second before a Tate Matheny single put runners on the corners. Huberman walked De La Guerra to load the bases and then Chavis laced a two-run single to pad the advantage at 9-5. After another walk and a strikeout, a free pass to Meyers with the bases loaded made it 10-5 Red Sox.
Bobby Poyner recorded the final four outs of the game for his fifth save of the season.
In a scoreless second, Tyler Alamo doubled with one out and Trent Giambrone singled him to third. Hodges lifted a sacrifice fly to bring in Alamo before Robert Garcia knocked an RBI single to plate Giambrone. Bryant Flete then launched an RBI double to left-center to make it 3-0 Myrtle Beach.
Giambrone and Hodges jumpstarted the Birds with singles to begin the fourth. An error loaded the bases before a Flete sacrifice fly pushed the Pelicans' advantage to 4-0.
Myrtle Beach returns to TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark to begin a three-game series with Tuesday's 7:05 p.m. contest against the Winston-Salem Dash. LHP Justin Steele (2-3, 2.65 ERA) pitches against Dash RHP Brannon Easterling (2-3, 3.50 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn.
Tuesday's contest against the Dash is a Craft Beer Tuesday, meaning fans can enjoy $2 12 oz. craft draughts from 6-8 p.m.
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].