MYRTLE BEACH, SC: Having fallen 3-0 in a hitless affair last night, the GreenJackets found their way on the scoreboard tonight yet could not keep pace with the Pelicans in a 12-1 bludgeoning.
Ace Rayven Antonio had the most difficult start of his young pro career, allowing ten hits and nine runs in less than four innings as he drew his third loss of the year.
Antonio struggled to locate his secondary pitches, and failed to miss barrels as a result.
The Pelicans began the scoring in the second frame, as Angel Cepeda sent a fly ball soaring through the humid evening air and over the wall for a two-run home run.
It would be the first of two 2-run shots in as many innings, as Leonel Espinoza followed an Alexey Lumpuy RBI double in the 3rd with a homer of his own.
Cepeda smoked an RBI single in the 3rd, and the lead stretched to a half-dozen less than three innings in.
Antonio would leave the game with the bases loaded and one out in the 4th, and all three runners inherited by Reibyn Corona came around to score to place the final total for Rayven at nine.
The nine runs are the most allowed by a single GreenJackets pitcher this season.
The GreenJackets worked their way on the scoreboard for the first and only time in the top of the 5th, as Leiker Figueroa rolled a one-out double for his first his of the week.
Figueroa took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Eric Hartman.
The run was the only blemish against Ethan Flanagan, who fired five fantastic frames as he grabbed his third win of the year in just five starts with Myrtle Beach.
The Pelicans would push across their final burst of insurance in the 6th, as Juan Sanchez lost command with two outs. A fielder’s choice and two wild pitches loaded the bases, and Sanchez walked Alexis Hernandez on four pitches to push a run across.
Sanchez would serve a center-cut fastball to Christian Olivo, who muscled it up the middle for two more runs.
The GreenJackets were unable to score against any of the Pelicans’ three relievers, and fell by their largest margin of the year.
Augusta will now need an offensive resurgence and a strong start from Owen Hackman tomorrow to avoid the three-game sweep, before they head north to Hickory for a six-game set with the first-place Crawdads.
