Pelicans outslug Astros in 8-4 victory

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (May 6, 2017) -  Eddy Martinez and Matt Rose bashed home runs to back a terrific outing from starter Oscar De La Cruz to help the Myrtle Beach Pelicans to an 8-4 victory Saturday over the Buies Creek Astros at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
Up 2-1, the Pelicans (17-13) opened the floodgates in the bottom of the fifth inning. Carlos Sepulveda  led off the frame with a leadoff single. P.J. Higgins lined a single to left field to put runners on first and second with nobody out. ABryant Flete ground out put Higgins on second and Flete on first. Eddy Martinez then crushed a three-run bomb off Ralph Garza, who had entered the contest in relief of Astros (19-11) starter Justin Ferrell (2-2). The inning would continue with a Trent Giambrone single to left field. A couple of batters later, Matt Rose flexed his muscles with a two-run blast to left field, extending the Birds lead to 7-1. 

That was more than enough for De La Cruz (2-2), who ceded just one run on three hits with six strikeouts and no walks in six innings.
The Astros struck first in the top the top of the fourth inning. Kyle Tucker flicked a home run to right to make it 1-0.
The Birds rallied right back in the bottom of the frame. Flete singled to start the inning. Two batters later, Trent Giambrone walked and Daniel Spingola  singled to load the bases. Adonis Paula  then deposited a two-run single into right field, giving the Pelicans the 2-1 advantage. 
Alex Winkelman entered the game for Buies Creek in the sixth inning, as the Birds tacked on another run to extend their lead. After Sepulveda reached base on a single, he advanced to second base on a passed ball. Higgins, who had two knocks, then reached first base on an infield single to put Pelicans on the corners with one out. Sepulveda would then score on the next batter, as Flete grounded into a fielder's choice to push the Birds' lead to 8-1.
Buies Creek fought back in the eighth inning, as Christian Correa launched the Astros second home run of the game cutting Myrtle Beach lead down to 8-2. 
In the ninth, Buies Creek did not go down quietly. Tucker homered for the second time in the contest for his first multi-home run game of his career. Ryne Birk walked a couple of batters later, and then scored on a Pat Porter double to make the score 8-4. However, Kyle Miller struck out Osvaldo Duarte to end the ballgame and pick up a three-inning save.
Myrtle Beach and Buies Creek will play the finale of their four-game series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. LHP Ryan Kellogg (1-1, 3.27 ERA) will get the nod for the Birds against Buies Creek LHP Matt Bower (1-0, 3.57 ERA). Television coverage of Sunday's contest begins at 3 p.m. on The CW21 and MiLB.tv. A radio broadcast starts at 2:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
The Pelicans will celebrate Splash's birthday on Sunday by giving away 100 brand-new bikes to children 12-and-under. The Ninja Turtles will also visit TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans. It is also Family Sunday as pregame on-field catch will be open to all fans from 2:10-2:35 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]