The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (18-21) concluded the six-game series on Sunday afternoon against the Delmarva Shorebirds (14-25) from Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Jesus Carrera was on the mound for Fayetteville against Caden Hunter of Delmarva.
At the top of the first inning, Fayetteville designated hitter Kevin Alvarez hit a solo home run to right field for a 1-0 lead. It was his fifth home run of the season. With two outs, Nehomar Ochoa Jr. struck out swinging.
Moving to the bottom of the second inning, Delmarva had a runner on third base when Andrés Nolaya hit an RBI single to left field. Raylin Ramos scored, and the game was tied 1-1. With two outs, Andrés Nolaya tried to steal home plate, but was called out.
In the bottom of the third inning with two outs, Delmarva shortstop D.J. Layton hit a solo home run to center field to give the Shorebirds a 2-1 lead. A groundout by Joshua Liranzo ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Delmarva had a runner on third base when Andrés Nolaya hit an RBI triple to left field, scoring Raylin Ramos for a 3-1 lead. Two batters later with one out, Juan Ortega hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Nolaya for a 4-1 lead. A pop-out by Felix Amparo ended the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base when Juan Sierra hit an RBI double to left field. German Ramirez scored, and it was now 4-2. Kevin Alvarez followed up with an RBI single to right field, scoring Sierra, and the Woodpeckers trailed the Shorebirds 4-3. Alvarez was picked off stealing second base, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Delmarva had runners on first and second base when Raylin Ramos hit an RBI double to left field. Braylon Whitaker scored for a 5-3 lead. Andrés Nolaya followed with a two-run RBI double to right field. Alfredo Velásquez and Raylin Ramos scored for a 7-3 lead. With two outs, Edwin Amparo was called out on strikes, and the inning was over.
Fayetteville starter Jesus Carrera pitched five innings, allowing eight hits, seven runs, two walks, and five strikeouts, throwing 76 pitches, of which 46 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when German Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Nehomar Ochoa Jr. scored, and the Woodpeckers trailed the Shorebirds 7-4. With two outs and the bases loaded, Josh Wakefield popped out to third base, and the inning was over.
Aubrey Smith was the new pitcher for Fayetteville in the bottom of the sixth inning. He threw 10 pitches, of which eight were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the seventh inning, Fayetteville left fielder Juan Sierra worked a four-pitch walk, and later stole second base, and went to third base on a flyout from Kevin Alvarez. A wild pitch by Luis Beltrán allowed Sierra to score. The Woodpeckers cut the deficit to 7-5. With two outs, D.J. Newman struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had runners on second and third base when Josh Wakefield grounded out to shortstop. German Ramirez scored, and it was now 7-6. Juan Sierra followed up with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Hector Salas, and the game was tied 7-7. A groundout by Arturo Flores ended the inning.
At the top of the ninth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base when Hector Salas hit an RBI double to center field. D.J. Newman scored to give The Woodpeckers an 8-7 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Juan Sierra ended the inning.
Fayetteville pitcher Aubrey Smith took care of the rest. He pitched four innings, allowing two walks and one strikeout, throwing 51 pitches, of which 40 were strikes, to get the final 12 outs of the game. The Woodpeckers come from behind to beat the Shorebirds by the final score of 8-7. This was Fayetteville’s fifth straight win, and the take five of six in Delmarva.
Fayetteville finished the afternoon with seven hits, committed one error, went 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 men on base. Kevin Alvarez went 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs. Juan Sierra went 1 for 2 with a walk and two RBIs. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Aubrey Smith (1-2), and the loss went to Delmarva pitcher Junior Aybar (0-1).
The Woodpeckers return to Segra Stadium on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the Fredericksburg Nationals at 6:35 pm on the MLB App.
