Winston-Salem sends Pelicans to third straight loss

Rain spoiled what had started out as a nice evening for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans’ series finale with the Winston-Salem Dash on Sunday, but the reality is things had turned dreary for the home team well before the game was halted in the sixth inning.

The visiting Dash had already collected nine hits, four walks and built a comfortable lead on the way to a 6-1 rain-shortened win before an announced crowd of 2,901 at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.

Winston-Salem (8-9) won its third straight game after dropping the opener of the four-game series while the Pelicans, mired in their first extended rut of the season, dropped to 9-7.

“We’ve put ourselves in a hole the last three games and we just haven’t been able to dig out,” Pelicans manager Mark Johnson said. “Our starters have [given] up several big innings early in the game. [Saturday] night we chipped away a couple runs and just fell short. Tonight, we had a little something going before the rain came, but we hadn’t been able to score early and we haven’t been able to stop them early.”

Right-hander Tyler Skulina had his second straight rough outing, giving up eight hits, two walks and six earned runs in four innings. He had allowed four earned runs in five innings last time out against Salem after opening the season with a strong debut.

Skulina was solid last season while pitching for Johnson’s Class A Kane County Cougars, posting a 3.21 earned-run average and a 68-to-35 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 18 starts.

He struggled in a brief stint with the Class A Advanced Daytona Cubs, though, and is now 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA at the same level for the Pelicans.

“Really [it’s just about] using his fastball effectively and pitching inside and not really going to his secondary [pitches] too much. Just being aggressive and aggresive in the zone with his fastball is kind of what he’s gotten away from a little bit right now,” Johnson said.

Winston-Salem grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Adam Engel’s two-out two-run double to the warning track in left field.

The Dash then added four runs in the fourth. Omar Narvaez and Nick Basto led off the frame with back-to-back singles, Cleuluis Rondon plated a run with an RBI groundout, Keenyn Walker followed with an RBI triple, Engel delivered a double down the first base line and Jake Peter ropped an RBI single over first base to make it 6-0.

After stranding runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings, the Pelicans loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth as Jacob Hannemann singled down the left field line, Mark Zagunis reached on an error and Billy McKinney walked. After a strikeout, Jacob Rogers singled up the middle to plate one run, but the Dash got Zagunis at home for the second out.

And then the rain came.

Matt Heidenreich earned the win for the Dash, scattering five hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings while allowing that lone run. Engel was 3-for-4 with thre RBIs.

Hannemann and Rogers eache finished 2-for-3 for Myrtle Beach, and former Coastal Carolina standout Josh Conway pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

The Pelicans get a day off Monday before embarking on a seven-game road trip to Wilmington and Lynchburg while looking to get back in the win colunm.

“It’s just one one those little ruts you get in,” Johnson said. “It’s a long season and things like that happen. It’s just a matter of minimizing big innings and continuing to have good at-bats.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2015 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Winston-Salem sends Pelicans to third straight loss."