Steele, home runs help Birds salvage series

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (May 18, 2017) - Tyler Alamo and Matt Rose both homered to carry the Pelicans offense behind a steller start from Justin Steele in Myrtle Beach's 7-1 victory over the Buies Creek Astros in Thursday's series finale from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.  
With the Myrtle Beach (22-19) leading 2-1,the Pelicans hung a crooked number on Buies Creek (25-16) starter Matt Bower (2-1) in the fourth inning to extend their lead. Jesse Hodges led off the frame with a double to right field before advancing home on an RBI single by Eddy Martinez. Tyler Alamo joined Martinez on base with a single to right and then Matt Rose  blasted his team-leading seventh home run of the season to make it a 6-1 Myrtle Beach advantage.

That was more than enough that Steele (2-3) needed. The lefty tossed six innings of one-run baseball against a tough Buies Creek offense before giving way to the Birds' 'pen. Pedro Araujo fired two scoreless innings before giving way to Marc Huberman , who struck out a pair of batters in the ninth to lock down a 7-1 victory.
Buies Creek jumped out to the early lead. Jason Martin jumpstarted the offense with a one-out single to right field. Martin would advance to second on a wild pitch before Kyle Tucker moved Martin to third on an infield single. With two outs and runners on the corners, Anthony Hermelyn laced an RBI single to right field to give Buies Creek the 1-0 advantage.
Myrtle Beach would score a pair of runs in the second to take their first lead of the game. With one out in the inning, Martinez reached first base on an error. Alamo deposited his sixth home run of the season over the left field wall, which gave the Birds the 2-1 lead. 
Following the big fourth inning, the Pelicans would tack on their final run of the game in the seventh. Andruw Monasterio  sparked the inning with a leadoff single before advancing to second on a walk drawn by Robert Garcia.  Both Monasterio and Garcia advanced 90 feet on a ground out, and then Monasterio would come home to score on a sacrifice fly from P.J. Higgins to stretch the Birds lead to 7-1. 
Myrtle Beach will kick-off a four-game set on Friday at 7:05 p.m. with the Salem Red Sox. The Pelicans will send RHP Oscar De La Cruz (3-2, 2.79 ERA) to oppose Salem's LHP Dedgar Jimenez (4-1, 4.67 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
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].