Steele, Rose help Birds snap skid

KINSTON, N.C. (July 1, 2017) - Matt Rose slugged a two-run homer Saturday to back six stellar innings from Justin Steele and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans stifled the Down East Wood Ducks 4-1 at Grainger Stadium.
With the score 1-0 in the second inning, Eddy Martinez led off and laced a double into the left field corner. Two batters later, Rose drilled a two-run shot to center off Wood Ducks (29-49, 5-4) starter Richelson Peña (4-4) to put the Pelicans (46-33, 3-6) ahead 2-1.

That would be all Steele (6-4) needed. The southpaw yielded just one run on four hits in six innings, walking one and striking out five. He registered his 10th consecutive start of no more than two earned runs allowed, sporting a 1.77 ERA in that span.
Steele outpitched Pena, who surrendered just two runs on four hits in six innings to suffer the loss.
The score remained 2-1 until the eighth inning. Bryant Flete extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single before Trent Giambrone walked to put runners on first and second. After a P.J. Higgins sacrifice bunt, Eloy Jiménez smoked a two-run single to left to widen the margin to 4-1.
Dakota Mekkes pitched 1.2 scoreless frames before giving way to Pedro Araujo , who induced the final four outs of the game for his fifth save. Myrtle Beach won for the first time in four games.
The Wood Ducks struck in their first at-bats when Matt Lipka tripled against Steele. An Eduard Pinto RBI groundout put Down East ahead 1-0.
Myrtle Beach aims to take the series advantage in game three of the four-game set with Sunday's 2 p.m. contest. RHP Adbert Alzolay (7-1, 2.85 ERA) toes the rubber for the Birds against Down East RHP Jonathan Hernández (1-2, 4.71 ERA). Coverage begins at 1:45 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].