Hatch earns first win as Pelicans sabotage Wood Ducks

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (June 3, 2017) - Thomas Hatch spun 6.1 scoreless innings and both Matt Rose and Trent Giambrone blasted home runs to help the Myrtle Beach Pelicans earn a series win Saturday with a 10-2 victory over the Down East Wood Ducks from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
Myrtle Beach (31-25) erupted in the bottom of the first inning off Down East (21-34) starter Jonathan Hernández, (0-1) who made his High-A debut. With one out in the frame, P.J. Higgins  singled before advancing to third on a base hit to right field from Daniel Spingola. Spingola swiped second base with two outs in the frame to put two men in scoring position. Tyler Alamo  put the Pelicans on the board with a two-run single to center field. With Alamo on first, Rose cleared the bases with his team-leading 10th home run of the season to make the score 4-0. 

That would be all the runs that Thomas Hatch (1-5) needed, as the right-hander dominated over 6.1 scoreless innings against the Wood Ducks. Hatch struck out five Down East batters and wiggled out his way out of several jams to pick up his first career win. 
Robert Garcia, Andruw Monasterio  and Bryant Flete  led off the bottom of the second inning with three consecutive hits to load the bases. The Wood Ducks turned a double play that allowed Garcia to score and increased the Birds' lead to 5-0. 
The Pelicans would keep the pressure on in the fourth with a pair of runs. Monasterio kicked off the inning with his second hit of the night before advancing to second on a walk drawn from Flete. Higgins picked up his second hit of the evening with a single to left field to load the bases. Down East would turn their second bases loaded double play of the contest, allowing Monasterio to score. With two outs in the inning and Flete at third, Eloy Jiménez  delivered a two-out single to center field, which extended the Myrtle Beach lead to 7-0. 
With one out in the fifth inning, Trent Giambrone  singled and Robert Garcia doubled to put men at second and third. Monasterio then laced his season-high third hit of the contest, scoring Giambrone and advancing Garcia to third. Flete would make it 9-0 one batter later, as he lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Garcia. 
Giambrone launched his fourth home run of the season in the seventh to make the score 10-0. Giambrone's home run snapped a streak of 93 at-bats without a big fly for the right-handed batter.
The Pelicans' shutout would go by the wayside with Down East breaking through in the eighth. With one out in the inning, Josh Morgan drew a walk to put one man on the bases. Luis La O would erase the shutout with two outs in the frame with a two-run blast to left field. 
Dillion Maples struck out three in the top of the ninth to give the Pelicans the 10-2 victory in the finale of the four-game set. The Birds are now six games above .500 for the first time all season.
Myrtle Beach will kick off a three-game set tomorrow in Lillington, N.C., with the Birds sending LHP Justin Steele (3-3, 2.55 ERA) to the mound to oppose RHP Franklin Perez (2-0, 2.25 ERA). The Pelicans sit just one game out of first place behind the Astros. First pitch for Sunday's game will be at 4:00 p.m., with coverage beginning at 3:45 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].