Myrtle Beach Pelicans Hold Off Potomac Nationals 8-6
For a time it was looking like the Potomac Nationals were going to battle back and defeat the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, but the bullpen was able to hold it together to give the Pelicans the 8-6 win.
The Pelicans got a huge night from C Jorge Alfaro, who reached base four times, and scored four runs, while driving in another. The amazing part is that Alfaro only had one hit, an RBI triple, and did not walk in the game, finishing 1 for 3. CF Lewis Brinson added three RBI and both Royce Bollinger and Christopher Bostick would have three hits. Bostick also drove in two runs.
Neither team got very much in the way of quality pitching. Myrtle Beach starter Luis Parra (8-6) pitched five innings of three hit ball, but he walked four, struck out just one and gave up three runs, two earned. Jose Monegro pitched two exceptional innings, but after he left was when all the fun started.
The Pelicans had built up an 8-3 lead by scoring five runs against Potomac starter Matthew Spann (7-5) and three more against Rickie Mirowski. The Pelicans had scored their three runs against Mirowski in the seventh, and the game looked anything but over at that point. At least that is what it looked like to most watching the game, but that was not the case at all.
Cody Ege took over in the bottom of the eighth and found himself in trouble early and often. Ege would give up five straight hits, including four singles and a double, and the lead was quickly down to two. John Wooten had an RBI double in the inning, and Khayyan Norfold and Estarlin Martinez each added RBI singles. After the hit by Martinez, Ege was done and in came Abel De Los Santos.
De Los Santos would keep the next three batters down, without any further damage. He would even strike out Stephan Perez to end the inning and preserve the two run lead. Jose Leclerc would come on in the ninth and would walk one and strike out another for his 12th save of the season.
The battle between the two division leaders left Myrtle Beach in a virtual tie with the Carolina Mudcats for the Southern Division lead, while Potamac clings to a half game lead over Lynchburg in the North. The loss still gives Potomac a narrow lead for the team with the best record in the Carolina League. The two teams will play again tomorrow.
Robert Pannier
Senior Baseball Editor
Member of the IBWAA