Birds strike early, hang on to capture ninth straight win

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (June 10, 2018) - The Myrtle Beach Pelicans racked up their ninth straight win on Sunday night by squeaking past the Salem Red Sox 4-3 from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. 
The Birds (33-29) struck early with two runs in the first against Salem (28-31) starter Darwinzon Hernandez (3-3).  Andruw Monasterio scored on a wild pitch to draw first blood and Connor Myers worked the Pelicans' straight fourth walk of the inning to bring in Jhonny Pereda from third and make it 2-0. 

In the second, the Pelicans added on after P.J. Higgins reached on an error. Pereda drove him home to make it 3-0 and Kevonte Mitchell ripped an RBI double to give the Birds a 4-0 advantage. 
In the eighth inning, the Red Sox fought back with an RBI single from Santiago Espinal and a two-run hit from Brett Netzer to cut the deficit to one. However, Jhon Romero locked down the six-out save, his fourth save of the season. 
Casey Bloomquist (1-0) earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits over his three innings while striking out two and walking one.
Erick Leal set the tone in his no-decision start, tossing four hitless innings while striking out two and walking one. 
Down 2.5 games in the standings, the Pelicans hit the road to start a three-game series with Monday's 7 p.m. contest against the first-place Winston-Salem Dash from BB&T Ballpark. LHP Bryan Hudson (4-4, 5.68 ERA) goes for Myrtle Beach against Winston-Salem RHP Jimmy Lambert (3-6, 4.44 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
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. Since being acquired by a group led by Chuck Greenberg during the 2006 season, the Pelicans have repeatedly set team attendance records and become known as one of Minor League Baseball's most innovative and creative franchises. The team and its employees have been dedicated to making a difference in the Myrtle Beach community, specifically giving back over $2 million in donations, fundraising proceeds, in-kind services and community service since launching the Pelicans Play It Forward Community Initiative in 2013. TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark 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. In June 2017, the Pelicans won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. On the field, the team has 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 email [email protected].