Pelicans silence Salem

One night after matching a season-high with 17 hits, the Sox offense was stymied by the spectacular craftsmanship of Miguel De Los Santos, who spun six scoreless innings and struck out 11 to highlight Myrtle Beach’s 4-0 triumph on Tuesday night at LewisGale Field. The Pelicans took an early lead against Salem starter Drake Britton, and the Red Sox never sent a baserunner past second base in the entire ballgame against De Los Santos and a duo of relievers who combined to deal a five-hit shutout.

De Los Santos only struck out one of the first seven batters he faced, but turned it up a notch by whiffing 10 of the final 12 he saw to complete his sterling six-inning performance. Heiker Meneses led off the game with an infield single, the only hit that De Los Santos permitted through the duration of his outing. In relief, Jimmy Reyes struck out a pair in his two scoreless frames on the mound, while Zach Osborne pitched around two singles in the ninth to complete the shutout.

The Pelicans plated a pair in the top of the first against Britton, using four straight singles and a sac fly from Andrew Clark to assume to 2-0 edge in the opening moments. Myrtle Beach jumped to a 3-0 lead on Travis Adair’s RBI ground-out in the second and tacked on an insurance tally off reliever T.J. Hose in the top of the ninth.

Despite some early struggles, Britton finished his outing strong, dealing a 1-2-3 fifth and setting down eight of the final nine men he faced. Unfortunately, the lack of run support served Britton his 13^{th loss of the season. Chris Martin continued to amaze with three scoreless innings out of the pen, preceding Hose’s one-run ninth.}

All 17 combined hits in the game were singles, with the Sox managing just five of them. Heiker Meneses and Shannon Wilkerson both extended their current hitting streaks to eight games, as Meneses went 2-4 and Wilkerson finished 1-3. Every member of the Myrtle Beach lineup chipped in with at least one hit, with Ryan Strausborger, Andrew Clark, and Santiago Chirino each contributing two hits.

In the last of the seventh, Salem manager Bruce Crabbe and designated hitter Bryce Brentz were both ejected in the aftermath of a controversial non-call in the batter’s box. It appeared that a Reyes slider hit Brentz in the foot while the hitter checked his swing, but umpire John Bacon made no signal of sending Brentz to first. Crabbe argued vehemently, motioning for Bacon to ask to the umpire on the bases for his opinion. But Bacon refused to seek help and tossed Crabbe shortly thereafter. One pitch later, Brentz chased a slider away, struck out, said something to Bacon, and immediately was run from the proceedings as well. It was the third time this season that Crabbe had been ejected.

The Red Sox and Pelicans reunite on Wednesday for the series rubber match, with Anthony Ranaudo taking the mound against Wilfredo Boscan. First pitch is slated for 7:05.