Down East Falls Short Against Pelicans

MYRTLE BEACH, SC - A stellar bullpen effort did not get the run support it needed in the Wood Ducks' (13-16, 37-61) loss to the Pelicans (12-16, 55-43) 2-0. The duo of Jose Valdespina and Kelvin Vasquez combined for six innings of scoreless relief in the defeat.

Offensively, Carlos Garay continued his hot July and extended his hitting streak to a team-high 11 games on a 3-for-4 night at the plate. Luis La O added a pair of hits as well in the loss.
Jonathan Hernández started for Down East but ran into trouble in the second inning. A bases-loaded walk and a sac fly scored two runs early for Myrtle Beach. However they were unearned from a Hernandez throwing error earlier in the inning to start the rally.
He would exit after two innings for Valdespina to enter - the same day he returned to the Down East roster from Spokane. The right-hander had two 1-2-3 innings and left runners on the corners in the sixth inning.
Pelican starter Mike Rucker stymied the Woodies bats in his fourth start against Down East. He allowed six hits, but also struck out seven. Casey Bloomquist and David Berg split the last four innings and faced the minimum with only one hit allowed.
The Wood Ducks look for the series win on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. with lefty Jeffrey Springs (1-8, 4.66) on the mound. He will face right-hander Duncan Robinson (1-2, 3.21) for the Pelicans with the five-game series on the line.
You can listen to every pitch of the 2017 season live on Sports/Talk 960 The Bull or streamed on the TuneIn Radio app.