Blue Crew Makes Due on Late Pelican Miscues
Lefty Brett Oberholtzer got the nod on the hill for the Pelicans, and the Delaware native tossed one of his best games of the season, matching a career-high with seven innings while allowing three runs and striking out three. Obie was ahead in the count all night long, working quickly and efficiently, needing just 85 pitches to get through his seven innings of work. Oberholtzer would not factor into the decision.
Defense, more specifically Cole Miles' defense, played a big part initially in the contest as the speedy left fielder stole what would have been a three-run home run off the bat of Salvador Perez from the first row of seats in the Budweiser Thirst Inning Deck to keep the game scoreless. An inning later, Miles fired a strike from the left center field gap to nail speedster Adrian Ortiz at third base as the baserunner tried to tag up on a fly ball from Eric Hosmer.
In the fourth, Miles decided to make some noise with his bat, tripling to lead off the frame and scoring on a wild pitch from Blue Rock starter Tim Melville. Dan Nelson followed Miles' triple with a double of his own, advancing to third on a ground ball, and scampering home on yet another wild pitch from Melville to give the Pelicans a 2-0 lead.
The Blue Rocks would battle back in the sixth inning as Pelican-killer Jamie Romak doubled home Patrick Norris to get Wilmington on the board. Romak, a .220 hitter coming in, went 3-for-4 on the evening to raise his average against the Pelicans to .367 (12-for-33) with 10 of his 28 runs batted in coming against the Birds. A Salvador Perez sac fly and a two-out single from Rey Navarro gave the Blue Rocks a 3-2 lead.
The Pelicans manufactured a run in the bottom half of the frame as L.V. Ware led off the inning with a bunt single, advancing to second on an errant throw by Jason Taylor. After being sacrificed to third, Dan Nelson chopped a single over the drawn-in infield to re-tie the ballgame at three apiece.
With Oberholtzer out of the game, the Blue Rocks scratched out the go-ahead tally on an RBI infield single by Eddie Prasch, an unearned run after Taylor reached on an error by second baseman Travis Jones. Patrick Keating (1-0) finished off the Pelicans with a 1-2-3 ninth and sent the Birds to their third consecutive one-run loss.
These two teams will be back again Saturday night for game two of this three-game set with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 ET. If you're a fan of performers attempting death-defying stunts solely for the purpose of your amusement, then the final Show Time Saturday in May is just for you! Come on out to BB&T Coastal Field as the chainsaw-juggling lunatic known as Mad Chad will be performing his insane stunts at the ballpark all throughout the evening!
For more information on tickets and daily promotions, log onto www.myrtlebeachpelicans.com or call 1-877-918-TIXX or 843-918-6000.