The Pelicans jumped on Salem starter Stolmy Pimentel early, surging to an 8-0 lead by the fifth and hanging on for an 8-3 win in the opener of a four-game series at BB&T Coastal Field. Pimentel surrendered four runs on five hits through two arduous innings that required 63 total pitches, while Myrtle Beach lefthander Miguel De Los Santos yielded just one hit over five scoreless frames to pick up the victory for the Birds, who improved to 27-12 in home games on the season. The lopsided setback was the Salem’s first defeat by more than three runs since a 6-1 loss in Kinston on June 15.
Jared Bolden led the Myrtle offense with three hits and three RBI, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. After Pimentel walked the leadoff batter in the top of the first and fell behind Bolden 2-0, the Pelicans’ first-baseman launched a towering two-run blast that gave Myrtle Beach a 2-0 lead before the Sox could record a single out. By the end of the first inning, it was 3-zip Pelicans, as Zach Zaneski singled to score Ryan Strausborger.
In the second inning, Pimentel needed 39 pitches to traverse six Pelican hitters, who annoyingly kept fouling off quality throws. Leury Garcia walked at the culmination of an 11-pitch at-bat, and Jared Bolden connected for an RBI double at the conclusion of an eight-pitch battle, giving Myrtle a 4-0 lead. The inning ended after another nine-pitch challenge between Pimentel and Zaneski, with the former eventually retiring the latter to end the inning.
The Pelicans used a hit-by-pitch and a bloop double to take a 5-zip lead in the third against reliever Anatanaer Batista, and then scored thrice more against Batista two innings later. Up 8-0, the Pelicans were on the verge of double figures with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, but Chris Martin arrived and proved to be a mighty foe for the Myrtle Beach mashers.
Martin escaped the bases loaded threat by stranding three inherited runners, and he remained on the mound the rest of the way to stymie the Pelicans. Overall, Martin dealt three and two-thirds scoreless innings, pitching around three hits and a walk, to bring his consecutive scoreless streak to 11.2 innings pitches over four appearances in the Carolina League.
Salem mustered a small rally in the eighth, with Shannon Wilkerson and Kolbrin Vitek connecting for back-to-back one-out singles that preceded Jorge Padron’s three-run shot to right, helping the Red Sox to avoid the shutout. Salem put two more men base in the eighth and had two men reach in the ninth as well, but nobody crossed home beyond the three who scored on the Padron dinger. The Red Sox stranded nine men on base in the ballgame, going just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
The Red Sox and Pelicans reunite on Friday for the second of the quartet, with Drake Britton and Wilfredo Boscan scheduled to square off on the mound. First pitch is set for 7:05.
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Chris Graham
