The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (36-35, 4-2) and the Delmarva Shorebirds (26-46, 2-4) played game three on Thursday night at Segra Stadium. Adam Shoemaker was on the mound for Fayetteville against Esteban Mejia of Delmarva.
Fayetteville starter Adam Shoemaker got off to a rough start at the top of the first inning. He allowed a hit and two walks that loaded the bases. With two outs, he struck out Raylin Ramos to end the inning. In the bottom of the first inning, Hector Salas worked a four-pitch walk with one out. Fayetteville catcher Arturo Flores followed up by hitting a two-run home run on the roof of Sergeant’s Valor Bar in right field to put the Woodpeckers up 2-0. It was his 10th home run of the season. With two outs, a groundout by German Ramirez ended the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Delmarva had a runner on second base when D.J. Layton reached first base on a throwing error by third baseman Brandon Nigh. Jose Perez scored, and it was now 2-1. With two outs, Stiven Martinez hit a single to second base. D.J. Layton tried to score, but he was caught at home plate for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning with two outs, Fayetteville right fielder Waner Luciano hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Arturo Flores for a 3-1 lead. Luciano tried to reach third base, but was called out, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Yosweld Vasquez hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring German Ramirez for a 4-1 lead. With two outs, Anthony Huezo grounded into a forceout at second base, and the inning was over.
At the top of the fifth inning, Fayetteville starter Adam Shoemaker put a runner on first base with two outs when he was replaced by Charlie Weber. Weber put a runner on base before Elvin Garcia grounded out to first baseman Arturo Flores to end the inning. Shoemaker went 4.2 innings, allowing three hits, one run, four walks, and six strikeouts, throwing 73 pitches, of which 41 were strikes. Charlie Weber went 3.1 innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out two, throwing 42 pitches, of which 24 were strikes.
Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on second base when Brandon Nigh hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Kenni Gomez for a 5-1 lead. With two outs, a pop-out by Yosweld Vasquez ended the inning.
Ryan Mathiesen pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the ninth inning. Mathiesen struck out one, throwing 11 pitches, of which seven were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The Woodpeckers beat the Shorebirds 5-1 for their third straight win. The Woodpeckers got 11 straight outs to end the game.
Fayetteville finished the night with eight hits, committed three errors, went 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base. Arturo Flores went 2 for 3 with a home run, a walk, and two RBIs, while Brandon Nigh went 2 for 2 with two walks and an RBI. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Charlie Weber (4-1), and the loss went to Delmarva starter Esteban Mejia (0-5).
The Woodpeckers can win the series on Friday night against the Shorebirds at 7:05 pm on the MLB App. Javier Perez (4-3, 3.45 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Andrew Herbert (2-1, 0.73 ERA).
