Wood Ducks drop fifth straight in 9-2 loss to Pelicans
Chuck Leblanc of the Down East Wood Ducks takes a swing at the ball during Sunday’s 9-2 loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Historic Grainger Stadium. Leblanc finished with one of the Woodies’ four hits in the loss. Photo by William ‘Bud’ Hardy / Neuse News
The Down East Wood Ducks are going in the wrong direction.
The Woodies lost for the fifth straight game – and the third in a row to Myrtle Beach in the current homestand – with a 9-2 setback to the Pelicans Sunday afternoon at Historic Grainger Stadium. The loss dropped the Woodies into last place in the Carolina League’s Southern Division with a 9-16 mark in the second half, 44-51 overall.
In front of 1,458 fans, the Woodies led twice, 1-0 after three innings and 2-1 after five. But the Pelicans exploded for eight runs over the next three innings to put the game away. The highlights of the Pelicans comeback were a three-run home run by Jhonny Pereda in the seventh inning and a two-run dinger by Jared Young in the sixth.
Myrtle Beach (11-13, 45-49) banged out nine hits, led by the first three batters in its lineup – Andruw Monasterio, Aramis Ademan and Pereda, who had two hits each. Five Pelicans – Pereda (three), Ademan (two), Young (two), Monasterio (one) and Wladimir Galindo (one) – finished with at least one RBI.
Righthander Tyson Miller scattered three hits, gave up two walks and struck out eight Woodies over five innings to earn his eighth victory of the season. Both runs he surrendered were earned.
The DEWDs only managed four hits, which included a solo home run in the third inning and a sixth-inning double by LeDarious Clark. The other RBI was a bases-loaded walk tendered to Franklin Rollin in the fifth inning that gave the Woodies the short-lived 2-1 lead. Melvin Novoa and Chuck Leblanc had the Wood Ducks’ other hits.
Yohander Mendez gave up six hits and three earned runs in six innings of work for the Woodies, but fell to 1-2 with the loss.
The Woodies and Pelicans close their four-game set on Monday at 7 p.m. at Grainger Stadium. It’s dollar hot dog night at the ballpark; children 12-and-under also receive free admission with a paying adult.
