Last year, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans won the Mills Cup Championship Series in their first year as a Cubs affiliate. This year’s Pelicans team had the misfortune of the having most of the Boston Red Sox top prospects, including Andrew Benintendi, opposing them at Salem when the year began. Myrtle Beach’s chances of catching up to the Red Sox improved greatly when he left the league. Going into Saturday’s game, the Pelicans are 4.5 games back with less than 25 to play in the first half.
At 26-21, the key to the Pelicans’ nice run this year is a dominating starting pitching staff that leads the Carolina League in ERA at 3.