KINSTON, NC - The Wood Ducks could not hang on in extras to reward a tremendous start by Jeffrey Springs in a 4-2 loss to the Pelicans on Saturday night. Springs worked a career-high nine innings while only allowing one earned run against Myrtle Beach.
KINSTON, NC - The Wood Ducks could not hang on in extras to reward a tremendous start by Jeffrey Springs in a 4-2 loss to the Pelicans on Saturday night. Springs worked a career-high nine innings while only allowing one earned run against Myrtle Beach.
In the first, an unearned run scored when Andruw Monasterio attempted to steal third early. Springs noticed and threw to Luis Silva who misplayed the throw and allowed Monasterio to score.
Offensively, the Wood Ducks' offense was stagnant against Pelican starter Ryan Kellogg. He did not allow a hit until two outs in the fourth inning, but the Woodies broke through in the next frame.
Chuck Moorman led off with a double down the left field line, but would have to wait until another double from Arturo Lara came with two outs. Lara over-slid the bag at second and was tagged out to end the inning.
Springs took the tied game and ran with it, retiring 11 consecutive batters from the fourth to the seventh. The streak ended on a Matt Rose solo home run to lead off the eighth.
The response came in the bottom half for the Woodies. Matt Lipka reached on an error and stole second base during Brallan Perez's at-bat. The Colombian knocked a double to left-center to score Lipka and tie the game. Yet with one out in the inning, the Woodies could not bring Perez home to take the lead.
Springs returned to the mound in the ninth with 92 pitches under his belt, but ended the frame with a strikeout on pitch No. 100. It was the first time he completed nine innings as a professional, but the game was still tied 2-2. Down East was retired in order in the bottom of the inning.
Tyler Ferguson entered for the tenth. He allowed a one-out walk to Robert Garcia - who stole second base four pitches later with Bryant Flete pinch-hitting. Flete then hit a ground ball up the first base line that hit the bag and popped over Josh Altmann's mitt to allow Garcia to score. Flete would be thrown out trying to stretch the single to a double for the second out.
Trent Giambrone added insurance on the next pitch, with a solo home run to left to mark the score at 4-2. The Woodies put the tying run on with one out in the bottom of the tenth, but could not get another hit in the defeat.
The finale of the series and the half is a Father's Day matinee at 2:00 p.m. Right-handers Jacob Shortslef and Casey Bloomquist will start for Down East and Myrtle Beach respectively. You can listen to every pitch of the 2017 season live on Sports/Talk 960 The Bull or streamed on the TuneIn Radio app.
