Lange dominates as Birds roll 5-1

SALEM, Va. (April 28, 2018) - Myrtle Beach starter Alex Lange fired seven dominant innings and Connor Myers and Tyler Alamo each homered Saturday to lead the Pelicans to a 5-1 victory over the Salem Red Sox from Haley Toyota Field. 
Lange (1-0) ceded just one run on three hits in his seven commanding frames. The right-hander struck out five and did not walk a batter, retired the final 13 Salem (14-9) batters he faced to earn his first career win.

With the game scoreless in the second, Red Sox starter Jake Thompson (0-2) walked Alamo and hit Kevonte Mitchell with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Myers stroked an RBI single, that, when coupled with two Salem errors on the play, allowed both runners to score to make it 2-0 Pelicans (8-15).
Lange was able to escape significant trouble in the bottom of the second. Salem loaded the bases with no outs on a Bobby Dalbec single, Jerry Downs hit-by-pitch and Kyri Washington base hit. After striking out Ryan Scott, Lange uncorked a wild pitch that brought in Dalbec. The former LSU right-hander then whiffed Trenton Kemp before inducing a Chris Madera ground out to get out of the jam with minimal damage.
Vimael Machin socked a double for the second of his three hits with one out in the fifth. Two batters after that, Alamo blasted a two-run home run to make it 4-1. Myers' solo shot in the eighth widened the margin to 8-1.
Jordan Minch tossed a scoreless eighth and Wyatt Short did the same in the ninth to seal the victory for Myrtle Beach.
Sunday's 2:05 p.m. rubber match features RHP Matt Swarmer (1-2, 1.72 ERA) for the Birds against Salem RHP Hildemaro Requena (0-0, 3.21 ERA). Coverage begins at 1:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app. 
The 2018 season is the 20th season for the Pelicans franchise and fourth as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For tickets visit MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/tickets, call (843) 918-6000, or visit the Pelicans Box Office.
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 six of the last seven seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences and the best in the Carolina League for six of the past seven seasons as well. In June 2017, TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. The Pelicans have won four Mills Cup Championships, including claims to back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000, and again in 2015 and 2016. The Pelicans have made 11 postseason appearances behind 13 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season, second half of 2016 and first half of 2017. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or emailing [email protected].