Myrtle Beach completes sweep of Salem

After dominating out of the gate, Matt Barnes could not make it through the fourth inning on Tuesday night. Five straight Pelicans reached base with two outs in the last of the fourth, leading to four runs, and Myrtle Beach eased past Salem 10-3 to complete the three game sweep of the Red Sox at TicketReturn.Com Field.

Santiago Chirino and Josh Richmond—Myrtle’s eight and nine-hole hitters—each registered three hits apiece to help the Pelicans improve to 10-3 since the All-Star Break. Salem managed just four hits as a squad and dropped to 3-10 in the second half.

Barnes dealt two perfect innings to begin the ballgame, and the Sox led 1-0 on an RBI fielder’s choice from Sean Coyle. But with one out in the last of the third, Chirino broke up Barnes’ streak of seven straight Pelicans set down, singling to center. Richmond followed with an RBI triple to the right-center field gap, tying the game at one. Odubel Herrera’s sac fly drove in Richmond and gave the Pelicans a 2-1 lead.

Salem responded immediately, tying things at two in the top of the fourth when Christian Vazquez led off with a double and Adalberto Ibarra singled him home. But in the bottom half of the inning, Barnes unraveled with two outs.

With two away, Christian Villanueva stood at first after a one-out walk. Jeremy Williams singled, and following a wild pitch, Teodoro Martinez walked to load the bases. Needing one out to escape the situation, Barnes could not wiggle out of trouble. Chirino ripped a grounder up the middle that tipped off the glove of the diving Xander Bogaerts and into center field, bringing in two runs to give the Pelicans a 4-2 lead. Chirino raced to second as the incoming throw soared to third. Then, Richmond pounded another base hit to center, driving in two more to give Myrtle Beach a 6-2 lead. Odubel Herrera’s ensuing single moved Richmond to second, and more importantly, chased Barnes from the game.

Barnes allowed six runs (all earned) on six hits over three and two-thirds innings, striking out three and walking two. For just the second time in 16 professional starts, he suffered the loss, falling to 5-2 in the Carolina League and 7-2 overall on the season.

Salem scrapped an unearned run in the top of the sixth to inch within three, but the Pelicans poured on three more runs against reliever Tyler Lockwood, jumping in front 9-3 in the last of the sixth. Myrtle Beach closed the scoring with a solo homer from Hanser Alberto off Mike Olmsted in the last of the eighth.

Ibarra led the Red Sox with two hits, while Coyle drove in two runs despite going hitless. Chirino and Richmond combined to go 6-for-8 with five RBI for the Pelicans, who won for the seventh time in their last eight games.