Pelicans prove too much for Red Sox in end

No punches were thrown during a bench-clearing confrontation in the second inning of Friday night's game between the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Salem Red Sox.

Instead, the Pelicans waited to hit the Salem pitchers the legal way, and they did it when and how it hurts the most - with a game-winning run in extra innings.

Myrtle Beach's Travis Adair ripped a lead-off triple in the 10th inning and he scored the winning run in walk-off fashion on Zach Zaneski's RBI single for a 4-3 victory at BB&T Coastal Field.

The Pelicans rallied from a 3-0 deficit with three runs in the seventh inning, then captured their third straight series win over the Red Sox in the 10th. It was a thrilling way to win the game, especially after it almost degenerated into a brawl early.

After Salem's Derrik Gibson and Jorge Padron singled and scored in the first inning for an early 2-0 lead, the trouble between Salem starter Anthony Ranaudo and the Pelicans began almost immediately.

Pelicans cleanup batter Jared Prince was hit by a pitch in the first inning and designated hitter David Paisano was hit in the hand by an inside pitch in the second.

Paisano had words with Ranaudo during his walk to first and began walking toward the mound as both dugouts emptied onto the field.

Cooler heads prevailed and Ranaudo pitched six scoreless inning while allowing only three hits. But he ran into trouble to start the seventh, giving up doubles to Santiago Chirino, Jared Hoying and finally Paisano before being pulled from the mound.

Jared Bolden drove in Leury Garcia for the tying run that later forced extra innings, and relievers Ryan Kelly and Zach Osbourne kept the Red Sox batters under wraps over the final frames.

Paisano had a chance to take care of matters himself after drawing a lead-off walk in the bottom of the ninth but he couldn't score from third base when the Pelicans hit into an inning-ending double play.

But Adair took care of business in the 10th with a hard shot to the right field corner that rattled around and allowed him plenty of time to get to third in stand-up fashion. Zaneski brought him home and the Pelicans' dugout once again emptied - this time in celebration rather than confrontation.

Osbourne pitched two scoreless innings to get his first win of the season, and Bolden went 3-for-5 at the plate to lead the Pelicans.

Myrtle Beach goes for the series sweep against the Red Sox at 7 tonight.