Myrtle Beach Pelicans beat Winston-Salem Dash, draw closer in standings
Final score
Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4, Winston-Salem Dash 2 (box score)
Recap
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are closing in on Winston-Salem, which is at the top of the Carolina League southern division standings in the second half.
With a 4-2 win Tuesday, the Pelicans are now within 1 1/2 games of the Dash and while Myrtle Beach already clinched a playoff spot by winning the southern division first-half title, the club knows there’s still a lot on the line.
“Playoff spot is nice, of course. But we want home-field advantage in the first round,” Pelicans infielder Jason Vosler said. “Winston-Salem is a team we have to beat and [Tuesday’s] win is nice because we want to finish in first in the second half, too.”
Dash starter James Dykstra held Myrtle Beach scoreless through the first six frames Tuesday, but the Pelicans broke out in the seventh inning.
Outfielder Mark Zagunis led off with a double and Vosler followed with a double of his own to drive in Zagunis for Myrtle Beach’s first run of the contest. Then, Victor Caratini hit a game-tying RBI single.
Daniel Lockhart had an RBI groundout to give the Pelicans a 3-2 advantage, and Winston-Salem reliever Jefferson Olacio beamed Pin-Chieh Chen to give Myrtle Beach a 4-2 lead, which was all it would need.
“It was huge,” Vosler said of the seventh inning. “Mark got it started with the big double off the wall and we all did our jobs and got some runs and got what we needed to win.”
Meanwhile, Myrtle Beach starter Jen-Ho Tseng (6-7) made perhaps his best start of the year as he struck out a career-high nine batters and allowed just two runs on four hits and one walk in seven innings. Pelicans reliever David Garner picked up his second save after tossing two shutout innings as well.
“Tseng kept us in the game the whole time and pitched great,” Vosler said. “So far – since I’ve been here – the pitching has been outstanding. They keep us in every game and I can’t give them enough credit; this [pitching] staff is unbelievable.”
Myrtle Beach hosts the Dash on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. in the last game of the season series between the teams. With 12 games left, the Pelicans just want to finish on top.
“We just need to come out and win,” Myrtle Beach manager Mark Johnson said. “[We need to] take the game one pitch at a time and come in and do what we’ve been doing all year.”
Said Vosler: “We have a tremendous amount of confidence. Going into every game, we know we have a good shot to win and [Wednesday] is no different. It’s definitely a big game and we’re going to go out there and get a win.”
Turning point
Zagunis led off with a double in the seventh inning and Myrtle Beach scored all four of its runs in the crucial frame.
The man
Tseng, who picked up his sixth win as he struck out nine and and gave up two runs on four hits and one walk in seven innings.
Decision takers
W–Tseng (6-7). L–Jefferson Olacio (1-1). S–David Garner (2).
Keeping records
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (76-51 overall, 35-23 second half), Winston Salem (66-61, 36-21)
He said it
“It’s good to get a win in this series, especially against these guys that we’re trying to chase for the second half.” – Johnson
“We got a good start from Tseng, he pitched really well. He was really good with his secondary [pitches] and pitched effectively with his fastball. It was probably one of his better outings of the year. We hung in there and finally got something going; we were fortunate [Olacio] made a couple of mistakes and the rest is history.” – Johnson
“Garner was outstanding. He walked the first guy but he settled in and made some good pitches. Then he came in during the ninth and just dominated.” – Johnson
Next up
Who | Winston-Salem Dash at Myrtle Beach Pelicans
When | 7:05 p.m. Wednesday
Radio | 1450-AM
This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach Pelicans beat Winston-Salem Dash, draw closer in standings."