Franco and Murphy lead Mudcats to 2-1 second half opening victory
Enderson Franco pitched through seven strong innings, Tanner Murphy hit a go ahead home run in the fifth and Chase Johnson-Mullins earned his eighth save as the Mudcats defeated the Pelicans 2-1 on Thursday night in Myrtle Beach.
Franco (5-4, 4.48) pitched through seven full innings and allowed just one run while scattering five hits for the Mudcats (30-41, 1-0) in the victory. He finished with a strikeout and three walks in what was his seventh quality start of the season.
A.J. Minter followed Franco out of the bullpen and pitched a scoreless eighth while earning his third hold and setting up Johnson-Mullins (S, 8) for the ninth. Johnson-Mullins gave up a two-out hit in the ninth, but finished the game with two strikeouts while leaving a man on base.
The Mudcats took a 1-0 lead in the second after Jordan Edgerton kept the frame alive with a two-out walk against Jonathan Martinez. Reed Harper then brought him in from first with a double to left to give the Mudcats a 1-0 lead.
The Pelicans (36-35, 0-1) tied the game in the fourth when Daniel Spingola reached on a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a RBI ground out by Jeffrey Baez.
The 1-1 tie was short lived though as Murphy launched a solo home run to left to give the Mudcats a 2-1 lead. The home run was Murphy’s fourth of the season and just the second hit of the night for the Mudcats against Martinez (3-5, 4.70).
Martinez worked through the seventh and into the eighth before leaving the game with the Mudcats leading 2-1. He finished with eight strikeouts and with only two hits and two runs allowed over seven and 1/3 innings pitched. Jordan Minch pitched the rest of the eighth and finished the game on the mound for the Pelicans in the loss.
The series continues on Friday night in Myrtle Beach with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at TicketReturn.Com Field. RHP Matt Withrow (5-4, 3.45) will start for the Mudcats against Myrtle Beach RHP Erick Leal (9-3, 3.22).
Thursday’s box score
Carolina Mudcats | ab | r | h | bi |
Gaylor, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Obregon, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Curcio, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Giardina, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Davidson, RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Edgerton, 3B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Harper, 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Daris, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Murphy, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Totals | 28 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Myrtle Beach Pelicans | ab | r | h | bi |
Crawford, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Torres, SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Vosler, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Balaguert, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Amaya, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Spingola, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Bote, PH-DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Baez, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Ely, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Burks, LF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Totals | 32 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
Carolina | 010 | 010 | 000 | — | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Myrtle Beach | 000 | 100 | 000 | — | 1 | 7 | 0 |
DP–Carolina 1; Myrtle Beach 1. LOB–Carolina 2; Myrtle Beach 7. 2B–Harper; Burks; Spingola. HR—Murphy (4). CS—Torres (5).
Carolina Mudcats IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
Franco (W, 5-4) | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Minter (H, 3) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Johnson-Mullins (S, 8) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Myrtle Beach Pelicans IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
Martinez (L, 3-5) | 7 1/3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
Minch | 1 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Franco and Murphy lead Mudcats to 2-1 second half opening victory."