Pelicans earn split with Kinston

After losing a game Tuesday night in the later innings, the bullpen stepped up for the Pelicans on Wednesday.  The Birds shut out Kinston over the final four innings, allowing Myrtle Beach to pick up a 6-5 win in 10 innings over Kinston.

Looking for a split of the series to ensure themselves an above-.500 second half record returning home, the Pelicans trailed early. Kinston tallied a run in the bottom of the first off Pelicans starter Cole Rohrbough when Cord Phelps doubled and scored on a Roman Pena RBI single. Myrtle Beach briefly wrestled the lead away from the Indians with a two-run third behind a Cole Miles RBI triple that plated Michael Fisher and a Jason Heyward RBI groundout.

Kinston got both runs back in the bottom of the third with RBI singles by Ole Sheldon and Ron Rivas to reclaim a one-run lead. The K-Tribe added a single run in the fifth and another in the sixth, the former coming on a Sheldon solo homer. Adam Davis’s RBI double in the sixth ended Rohrbough’s day after five and two-thirds. The Pelicans lefty surrendered five Kinston runs on nine hits, striking out six with three walks.

Myrtle Beach’s offense came alive in the seventh inning, cutting the 5-2 deficit down to a single run. After a two-out walk by Freddie Freeman, Heyward, Donell Linares and Cody Johnson all singled with the latter two each plating a run. An inning later, the Birds evened things on a run-scoring single by Fisher, knotting the game at five.

The Pelicans’ bullpen turned in perhaps its best outing of the year as the Myrtle Beach offense came around. Following Rohrbough, Craig Kimbrel, Michael Broadway and Tommy Palica combined to throw four and a third hitless innings to give their team’s bats a chance. With the game tied after nine, the Pelicans wasted no time in the tenth. Recently-promoted catcher Jesus Sucre doubled with one out, and Fisher drove him home with his second RBI base knock of the afternoon to give the Pelicans a 6-5 lead. Broadway (2-7) picked up his second consecutive win with two innings of hitless ball after starting his year with seven straight losses. Palica (S, 6) nailed down the final three outs in the tenth to give the Birds a 4-3 second half record through their first two post-All-Star Break series.