Courtesy the Augusta Green Jackets
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — After a 12-inning thriller on Tuesday, another pitching duel ensued 24 hours later at TicketReturn.com Field but this time it was Augusta on the winning side as they blanked Myrtle Beach, 1-0 to even the first two games of the series.
The bats for the GreenJackets went to work early with two hits each in the first inning but failed to score. They would replicate that in the second inning and manufactured a run as a result as Geraldo Quintero brought home Kadon Morton to score the opening run of the game.
That run would prove to be the difference in the game as Augusta pitchers made life difficult on the Pelicans the rest of the night, starting with Tyler Owens, who began the game with five shutout innings allowing just one hit and one walk with five strikeouts.
He was relieved by Estarlin Rodriguez who was just as impressive, minimizing the Pelicans to just one base runner in his three innings of work.
With the game still 1-0 Augusta in the ninth, it would be Juan Mateo on to secure the first GreenJackets save of the season, and he would get it done by retiring the top three Myrtle Beach hitters in order to finalize Augusta’s first shutout win of the season.
Tyler Owens earned the win for the GreenJakets as he along with Rodriguez and Mateo limited the Pelicans to just three base-runners all night, none of them made it past first base.
Augusta improves to 3-2 on the season following the win and looks to keep the run of dominant pitching going on Thursday as they send opening day starter Royber Salinas to the mound for his second start, and will face off with Tyler Schalffer of Myrtle Beach. First pitch comes at 7:05 p.m.
