Mudcats end skid with 12-3 rain shortened victory

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Mudcats snapped a five game losing streak with 12-3 rain shortened victory in Myrtle Beach on Monday night at TicketReturn.Com Field. Max McDowell was 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs, Lucas Erceg was 2-for-3 with three runs and Troy Stokes Jr. went 2-for-4 with four RBIs in the series opening victory against the Pelicans.

Carolina (49-50, 13-18) led 5-3 through the fifth and before scoring seven runs on four hits during a rain soaked sixth. The rain originally started in the fifth, but play was not stopped until the middle of the sixth and just moments after the Mudcats had taken a 12-3 lead.
Jordan Yamamoto (3-3, 3.27) started and earned the victory for the Mudcats after pitching through the fifth with three runs allowed on five hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out three over his five-inning victory.
Thomas Hatch started for the Pelicans (55-45, 13-17) and allowed three runs in the third and a run in both the fourth and fifth while taking the loss. In all, Hatch gave up five runs on seven hits, while walking one and striking out seven over five innings.
Carolina's three run third started with a one-out bunt single from Isan Díaz and continued with a run scoring triple from Lucas Erceg. Monte Harrison then followed with a RBI single to score Erceg to give the Mudcats a 2-0 lead. Harrison went on to steal second and then scored moments later on a RBI double from McDowell.
The Mudcats led 3-0 through the second, but the Pelicans answered back with a three run third to tie the game. Yamamoto gave up a leadoff single to P.J. Higgins in the third, before later allowing a two-run double to Zack Short and a game-tying infield single to Trent Giambrone.
McDowell then lifted his club back into the lead after driving in Erceg with a RBI single to make it 4-3. Erceg had walked earlier in the inning and went to second on a groundout from Harrison before scoring.
Hatch, trailing 4-3, remained in the game for the fifth before allowing one more run and then departing the game. Luis Aviles Jr. led off the fifth with a double and scored later in the frame on a one-out RBI double to right-center from Stokes.
Carolina's 5-3 lead quickly ran up to 12-3 in the sixth when the Mudcats rallied for seven runs on four hits against reliever David Berg. Berg only retired one batter in the inning and left with two walks, one strikeout and seven runs allowed.
Diaz started the Carolina sixth with a leadoff walk before moving to third on a double from Erceg. But, a throwing error by Giambrone on Erceg's double allowed Diaz to score and Erceg to move up to third. Harrison followed with a walk and McDowell would then be hit by a pitch to load the bases. Aviles went on to strikeout, but Trent Clark followed with a run scoring single to left to drive in the second Carolina run in the inning. 
Stokes then broke the game open with a three-run triple to deep right center and the Mudcats led 10-3 on Berg and the Pelicans. Corey Ray then followed with a triple of his own to score Stokes while putting the Mudcats up 11-3. Ray later scored on a wild pitch lost by reliever Casey Bloomquist after he took over for Berg in the long sixth inning.
Bloomquist eventually got the Pelicans out of the inning, but the damage had been done as the Mudcats had a 12-3 advantage in the game. The damage to the field had also accumulated slightly as persistent rain drenched the field, thus resulting in the stoppage of the play following the Carolina half of the sixth. A nearby lightning streak also expedited the process of suspending the game.
The Mudcats totaled a season high three triples in the victory and went 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position. They also stranded only two base runners and reached double digits in hits for the first time since July 12. 
UP NEXT: The Mudcats took a 1-0 series lead with Monday's victory and will look to take the series with a victory on Tuesday night in Myrtle Beach. Kodi Medeiros (3-8, 5.11) will start for the Mudcats in game two of the series, while Kevin Miller (2-2, 4.43) will start for Myrtle Beach. The game will air on the Mudcats Radio Network, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio.
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