The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (13-21) visited Arthur W. Perdue Stadium on Tuesday morning to begin a six-game series against the Delmarva Shorebirds (14-20). Jagger Beck was on the mound for Fayetteville against Caden Hunter of Delmarva.
In the bottom of the first inning, Delmarva had a runner on second base when D.J. Layton hit an RBI single to center field. Braylon Whitaker scored to give the Shorebirds a 1-0 lead. With one out, Beck struck out Joshua Liranzo and Jose Perez to end the inning.
Fayetteville starter Jagger Beck pitched 4.2 innings, allowing six hits, one run, three walks, and seven strikeouts, throwing 77 pitches, of which 45 were strikes. Ryan Verdugo replaced Beck in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs and a runner on first base. Verdugo walked Joshua Liranzo, followed by a pop-out from Jose Perez that ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the seventh inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Josh Wakefield hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Kevin Alvarez scored, and the game was tied 1-1. Fayetteville catcher Arturo Flores hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Nehomar Ochoa Jr. to give the Woodpeckers a 2-1 lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, German Ramirez struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Delmarva center fielder Stiven Martinez hit a solo home run to center field, tying the game 2-2. It was his second home run of the season. Later, Delmarva had runners on second and third base when Felix Amparo grounded out to first base. Joshua Liranzo scored to give the Shorebirds a 3-2 lead. With two outs, Verdugo struck out Alfredo Velásquez to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Delmarva had a runner on second base when Junior Aybar hit an RBI double to left field. Juan Ortega scored to extend Delmarva’s lead to 4-2. After walking Braylon Whitaker, Fayetteville replaced Ryan Verdugo with Brandon Cassedy. On the second pitch, Delmarva center fielder Stiven Martinez hit a three-run home run to right field for a 7-2 lead. It was his third home run of the season.
Ryan Verdugo pitched 2.1 innings, allowing four hits, five runs, five walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 77 pitches, of which 41 were strikes. Brandon Cassedy got three straight groundouts from D.J. Layton, Joshua Liranzo, and Jose Perez to end the inning. Cassedy allowed one hit and one run, throwing seven pitches, of which six were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded with nobody out. Camilo Diaz popped out to second base, German Ramirez was called out on strikes, and Anthony Huezo struck out on a foul tip to end the game. The Woodpeckers lost to the Shorebirds 7-2.
Fayetteville finished the afternoon with five hits, went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 men on base. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Ryan Verdugo (1-2), the win went to Delmarva pitcher Kenny Leiner (1-0), and Todd Kniebbe earned his third save of the season.
The Woodpeckers and Shorebirds play game two on Wednesday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App. Nick Potter (0-0, 2.51 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Esteban Mejia (0-2, 6.27 ERA) of Delmarva.
