Yamamoto and Medeiros combine on two hit shutout

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Jordan Yamamoto scattered two hits over six scoreless while earning his first win and Kodi Medeiros faced just 10 batters over three scoreless frames while earning his first save as the Mudcats shut out the first place Pelicans 1-0 on Friday night in Myrtle Beach.

The victory pulled the Mudcats (33-27) back within 1.5 games of the first place Pelicans (35-26) in the Carolina League Southern Division standings. The win also came in game two of the four game set and evened the series at a game apiece.
Yamamoto (1-0, 2.36) earned the victory after allowing just two hits, walking two and striking out three over six scoreless frames. He faced just three over the minimum in the game and needed 67 pitches (37 strikes) to get through his first quality start of the season.
Medeiros (S, 1) followed Yamamoto and faced one over the minimum while holding the Pelicans scoreless over the final three frames. He also struck out two and needed 28 pitches (20 strikes) to get through his first save of the season.
Corey Ray scored the only run of the game after reaching on a double and scoring on a sacrifice fly from Jake Gatewood in the sixth. Carolina led 1-0 after six and held the one run lead while earning their fifth shutout victory and winning their tenth one-run game.
Ray was 1-for-3 with a double, a run and a stolen base for the Mudcats. Trent Clark was 2-for-4 and five other Mudcats had at least one hit in the series tying victory. The Mudcats had eight hits in the game and were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring with seven men left on base.
The Pelicans had a chance at taking an early lead in the third, but Carlos Belonis caught Trent Giambrone at the plate on what would have been a sacrifice fly hit by Bryant Flete. Myrtle Beach had runners at second and third with no-outs in the frame before Flete flied out to right and Belonis (tag applied by Cooper Hummel) caught Giambrone at home after he tagged from third.
Thomas Hatch took the loss after allowing just the one run on four hits over five and 2/3 innings pitched. He also walked two and struck out four.
Jordan Minch (1-6, 4.23) and Casey Bloomquist followed Hatch and combined to pitch through three and 1/3 scoreless with a walk and two strikeouts.
UP NEXT: The series continues on Saturday night with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. in Myrtle Beach. Cody Ponce (5-4, 3.63) will start for Carolina on Saturday night, while Justin Steele (3-2, 2.62) will go for the Pelicans. The four game set is currently tied at 1-1.
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