Wood Ducks shut out by Myrtle Beach to extend losing streak to six

Just when you thought the offense couldn’t struggle any more for the Down East Wood Ducks, they get shut out. The Myrtle Beach Pelicans finished a four-game sweep of the Woodies by shutting them out, 2-0, in front of 1,741 fans Monday night at Historic Grainger Stadium.

The loss was the sixth in a row for the Wood Ducks, who fell to 9-17 in the second half, 44-52 overall. The Woodies’ offense has sputtered during the losing streak, as they’ve been outscored 23-6 in the six games.

The Pelicans (12-13, 46-49) outscored the DEWDs 18-5 in the four-game series and were led Monday night by third baseman Yeiler Peguero (2-for-4, RBI), centerfielder Roberto Caro (2-for-3, run) and Jared Young (1-for-4, RBI).

Myrtle Beach righthander Alex Lange improved to 6-6 with five innings of three-hit baseball. He struck out six and walked one to lower his ERA from 3.52 to 3.31 during the game. Jhon Romero picked up his ninth save of the season for the Pelicans by only giving up one hit and striking out three in two innings of work.

Wood Ducks’ righty Steven Bruce only gave up five hits and one earned run while striking out five in his 6.1 innings of work but ended up with the hard-luck loss. His ERA actually dropped from 3.86 to 3.59 despite the loss.

A very scary moment occurred when right-handed pitcher Robby Rowland came into the game in relief of Bruce in the seventh inning. Rowland threw a few warmup pitches before suffering what appeared to be a severe shoulder injury. He didn’t throw an official pitch in the game.

Southpaw Locke St. John came on in relief of Bruce and was effective, only giving up two hits and one unearned run while striking out two to finish the game for the Woodies.

LeDarious Clark finished 2-for-3 with a walk and was the lone Wood Duck with a multi-hit game as the home team finished with six hits.

The Wood Ducks have their first off day since June 4 on Tuesday before heading to Frederick for a three-game series that begins Wednesday. They’ll travel to Buies Creek to start a three-game set on Saturday before returning to Kinston on Tuesday, July 24, against Lynchburg.