Myrtle Beach Pelicans drop first game against Frederick Keys

Before Tuesday, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans hadn’t played a home game in nearly two weeks.

While it was their first game back at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark since a win over Salem on May 7, it was also the Pelicans’ first meeting with the Frederick Keys this season.

Myrtle Beach was set for a three-game series with the Carolina Mudcats starting Tuesday, May 12, but the Mudcats’ bus was involved in a wreck on that Tuesday morning en route to Myrtle Beach. The series was called off after a statement by Carolina League President John Hopkins, who said decisions on rescheduling will be made at a later time.

“It was good to get back,” said Myrtle Beach manager Mark Johnson, whose team fell to Frederick 6-2 Tuesday. “It was just one of those days where we were just kind of flat. Sometimes you get those days when you have a day off. The next day you come out a little flat as far as being late with the fastballs and things like that. I think both sides were a little sluggish.”

After Frederick’s Jeff Kemp hit a solo home run in the first inning, the Pelicans put some runs on the board. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning, but scored just one run on a wild pitch to tie it up 1-all. Carlos Penalver hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give Myrtle Beach a 2-1 lead, but things went downhill from there for the Pelicans.

Frederick took back the lead in the fifth inning and never looked back.

Gregory Lorenzo hit an RBI single and Kemp hit a sac fly as the Keys took a 3-2 lead.

Then, Frederick scored two more in the eighth to bolster its lead. After Myrtle Beach reliever Zach Cates walked the bases loaded, Kemp scored on a groundout and Drew Dosch later scored on a fielding error to give the Keys a 6-2 lead.

“We put some runners on base early and had bases loaded with no outs early in the game and didn’t get a run until a wild pitch,” Johnson said. “We left some guys out there that we should have gotten in.”

Pelicans starter Jen-Ho Tseng received the loss as he allowed three runs on five hits and one walk, and also struck out five in 4 2/3 innings.

“I thought Tseng had one of his better outing this year but he just completely ran out of gas,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Frederick starter Luis Gonzalez picked up the win as he struck out seven, allowed two runs and gave up six hits and two walks in five innings.

The Pelicans lost two big pieces of its offense when leading hitter Billy McKinney and Wes Darvill were called up to Double-A Tennessee last week, but Myrtle Beach has seen some newcomers step up in their place. Through four games, left fielder Pin-Chieh Chen is batting .500 with one home run and four RBIs and second baseman Chesny Young is batting .389 after four games with the Pelicans.

“They’re doing a good job. When you lose people, it gives opportunities to others,” Johnson said. “That’s the name of the game; just being able to step up and contribute and they’ve been doing that. Same as any other year, you’re going to have movement and you have to adapt to it and move forward.”

The Pelicans will likely go with righty Jonathan Martinez – who is coming off a no-decision at Winston-Salem on May 10 in which he allowed one run on five hits over five innings – on the mound as Myrtle Beach hosts the Keys at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.

“His last outing was one of his better outings,” Johnson said. “They key is just getting ahead of hitters and being able to use his secondary [pitches] effectively.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 11:35 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach Pelicans drop first game against Frederick Keys."