Pelicans set club record with third straight shutout

KINSTON, N.C. (June 15, 2017) - Justin Steele fired five scoreless innings, and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans registered a club record third consecutive shutout Thursday in blanking the Down East Wood Ducks 7-0 at Grainger Stadium.
Dating back to Monday's contest against Frederick, the Pelicans (41-26) have now gone 31 straight innings without surrendering a run, the longest roll in recorded club history (through the 2005 season). Myrtle Beach had never before recorded three consecutive shutouts. The Pelicans also pitched their league-high 10th blanking, including their fifth in the last 10 contests.

Steele (5-3) scattered four hits and three walks in his five frames, whiffing five. He yielded to Dakota Mekkes , who worked a scoreless sixth and seventh inning. Tommy Thorpe pitched a blank eighth before Kyle Miller and Scott Effross teamed up to finish off the Wood Ducks (23-43) in the ninth - Myrtle Beach's 18th win in the last 22 games. The Birds' 13-1 start to June is the best beginning to any month in recorded club history.
Matt Rose singled to jumpstart a scoreless second before moving to second on a walk by Tyler Alamo . After Eddy Martinez struck out, Tyler Pearson reached first on a free pass to load the bases. Robert Garcia then lofted a sacrifice fly to cash in Rose, the first run of the game.
The score would stay that way until the fifth. Wood Ducks starter Richelson Peña (4-3) walked Andruw Monasterio with one out. Bryant Flete then clobbered a two-run home run to increase the Birds' lead to 3-0.
In the seventh, a pair of errors on the same play placed Pearson on third base. Two batters later, Monasterio singled in Pearson to make it 4-0.
With the same tally in the ninth, another error put Pearson on to star the frame. After a fielder's choice exchanged Garcia for Pearson on first, Monasterio walked. Two batters after that, Trent Giambrone smashed a three-run homer to left-center to pad the Pelicans lead at 7-0.
Myrtle Beach looks to win their seventh game in a row in Friday's 7 p.m. contest. RHP Mike Rucker (1-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the ball for the Birds against RHP Jonathan Hernández (0-2, 12.38 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:45 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].