The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (59-53, 27-20) visited Pelicans Park on Tuesday night to begin a six-game series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (45-68, 18-31). Aubrey Smith was on the mound for Fayetteville against Kevin Camacho of Myrtle Beach.
At the top of the second inning, Fayetteville had runners on the corners when Juan Sierra hit a three-run home run to left field to put the Woodpeckers up 3-0. It was his 10th home run of the season. With two outs, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Ben Tryon flied out to right field for the third out.
Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning, Myrtle Beach had a runner on third base with one out when Eli Lovich hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Caden Sorrell. It was now 3-1. Smith loaded the bases with two outs before walking Jan Luis Reyes. Lovich scored, and it was now 3-2. Smith was replaced by Brandon Cassedy.
Juan Cabada hit a two-run single to center field, scoring Derik Alcantara and Jose Silva to put the Pelicans ahead 4-3. A flyout by Alexis Hernandez ended the inning. Aubrey Smith went 3.2 innings, allowing five hits, four runs, three walks, and one strikeout, throwing 73 pitches, of which 40 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base with one out when Aaron Piasecki hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Owen Nowak, and the game was tied 4-4. Kam Durnin worked a four-pitch walk before both runners advanced on a wild pitch by Julio Valdez. Logan Hughes followed up by hitting a two-run RBI double to right field to put the Woodpeckers back up 6-4. Later, Fayetteville had Hughes at third base when Kevin Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly to center field for a 7-4 lead. A groundout by Waner Luciano ended the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Myrtle Beach had runners on the corners with nobody out when Ivan Cespedes hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Corey Nunez. It was now 7-5. Two batters later, Juan Cabada grounded out to second base, scoring Derik Alcantara, and it was now 7-6. With two outs, a flyout by Alexis Hernandez ended the inning.
Brandon Cassedy went 2.1 innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and two strikeouts, throwing 41 pitches, of which 28 were strikes. Mick Uebelhor pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the seventh inning. Uebelhor walked one, throwing 17 pitches, of which six were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had runners on the corners with one out when Kevin Alvarez grounded out to second baseman Juan Cabada, scoring Kam Durnin for an 8-6 lead. A groundout by Waner Luciano ended the inning.
Tazwell Butler pitched for Fayetteville in the bottom of the eighth inning. He struck out one, throwing 10 pitches, of which six were strikes, to get three outs. At the top of the ninth inning, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Juan Sierra hit a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Ben Tryon and Luis De Leon for a 10-6 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Butler loaded the bases with one out when he threw a wild pitch, scoring Alexis Hernandez. It was now 10-7. With two outs, Butler got Corey Nunez to ground out to shortstop Kam Durnin for the final out of the game. The Woodpeckers held on to beat the Pelicans 10-7. Butler went two innings, allowing two hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts, throwing 35 pitches, of which 19 were strikes.
Fayetteville finished the night with 11 hits, went 5 of 17 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 men on base. Juan Sierra went 2 for 5 with a home run and five RBIs. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Brandon Cassedy (3-0), while Tazwell Butler earned his second save of the season, and the loss went to Myrtle Beach pitcher Julio Valdez (1-1).
The Woodpeckers and Pelicans play game two on Wednesday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Juan Fraide (7-1, 3.03 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Jubrayker Salaya (0-1, 5.52 ERA) of Myrtle Beach.
