Game 129 Preview: Pelicans at Red Sox

Sunday, August 25– 2:05 p.m.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans (32–29, 53–75) at Salem Red Sox (34–27, 59–68)

Haley Toyota Field — Salem, Va.

GAME INFO:

The Pelicans fell in both games on Saturday and have now lost two straight after winning five games in a row earlier in the week. Myrtle Beach is now just 1–7 at Haley Toyota Field in Salem this season Myrtle Beach is now 1.5 games behind Fayetteville in the Carolina League Southern Division entering Sunday. Sunday’s game will be the final regular season meeting between the Red Sox and the Pelicans this season. Salem has only a one-game lead over Wilmington in the Northern Division, but they lead Potomac by 2.5 games.

MEET THE RED SOX:

The Salem Red Sox are celebrating their tenth year in the Carolina League as the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Salem finished the first half of the season in last place in the Northern Division and they only finished with more wins than one other team in the league.

The second half has been a different story for the Sox as they currently have a one-game lead on Wilmington in the Northern Division. Despite their strong second half overall, the Red Sox have lost six out of their last 10 games.

Salem has outscored their opponents by 31 runs in the second half and that is the second-highest run differential in the league.

Cam Balego had one of the Birds four hits in Saturday’s loss to Salem. Balego went 1-for-4 with a double in the 5–1 loss. (Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

PITCHING MATCHUP:

Alexander Vargas, RHP (2–4, 5.03 ERA)

Alexander Vargas will make his 12th start and his 17th appearance of the season on Sunday against the Red Sox. Vargas has been up and down this season for the Pelicans and is coming off a start against Salem in which he allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings of work. Vargas has worked against Salem just one prior time this season and that was his last outing. Vargas was signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and the Cubs acquired him this past offseason in the Rule 5 draft.

Andrew Politi, RHP (5–2, 3.76 ERA)

Andrew Politi will make a spot start for the Red Sox on Sunday against the Pelicans. It will be the righty’s fourth start of the season and his 32 appearance for Salem. The 23-year-old was a 15th-round selection out of Seton Hall in 2018 and has posted good numbers in his first full professional season. Politi has been especially good after the All-Star break. In 12 appearances (three starts) since the break, Politi has an ERA of 1.41 and opponents are hitting .158 against him since that point. Myrtle Beach has had a lot of success against Politi this season as they have scored five runs in 3.1 innings against the righty.

LINEUP:

1. Delvin Zinn, SS
2. Carlos Sepulveda, 2B
3. Cam Balego, 3B
4. Miguel Amaya, C
5. Luke Reynolds, 1B
6. Grant Fennell, LF
7. Jhonny Bethencourt, DH
8. Kevonte Mitchell, RF
9. Zac Taylor, CF

PELICANS PINPOINTS:

• Kevonte Mitchell collected a pair of hits in a 2-for-3 performance on Saturday against Salem. Mitchell now has a hit in four out of the last five games.
• Jhonny Bethencourt was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored on Saturday night. Since coming off the IL on August 16, Bethencourt is hitting .400/.444/.467

BIRDS NEST NOTES:

• Luke Reynolds has been an offensive force since returning to the Pelicans. Reynolds played the first 55 games of the season with Myrtle Beach, hitting just .190/.296/.288 before being sent down to Low-A South Bend for 22 games. Since coming back to the Grand Strand, Reynolds is hitting .297/.392/.547 with five doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs in 18 games. He has raised his average with the Birds all the way up to .218 and his OPS from .584 to .675 in those 18 games. Additionally, he has played errorless baseball at first base.
• The Pelicans are just 1.5 games back of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers for second place in the Southern Division as of Sunday. If the season were to end today, the Woodpeckers would be in the playoffs and they also hold the head-to-head lead over the Pelicans. Winston-Salem is 1.5 games back of the Pelicans and 3.0 back of the Woodpeckers. The Pelicans have captured the season series against the Dash while Winston-Salem lost the season series with Fayetteville. Fayetteville, which was Buies Creek last season, won the Mills Cup title in 2018 in a one-game, hurricane-shortened series.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

Sunday’s game will be broadcast in the following ways:

Online (available at 1:50 p.m.): Pelicans Baseball Network

Phone/Tablet: TuneIn App, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, MiLB First Pitch app.