The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (67-53, 35-20) and the Salem RidgeYaks (52-69, 27-29) played a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Segra Stadium. In game one, Juan Fraide was on the mound for Fayetteville against Christian Foutch of Salem.
At the top of the second inning with two outs, Salem third baseman Louis Andujar gave the RidgeYaks a 1-0 lead with a solo home run to left field. It was his eighth home run of the season. Fraide struck out Andrews Opata to end the inning.
Fayetteville went on a tear in the bottom of the second. With two outs and a runner on second base, catcher Arturo Flores hit an RBI single to center field, scoring Waner Luciano that tied the game 1-1. Two batters later, with runners on second and third, Rashawn Galloway hit a two-run RBI double to right field, scoring Flores and Jadyn Fielder to give the Woodpeckers a 3-1 lead.
Shortstop Kam Durnin followed up by hitting an RBI single to center field, scoring Galloway for a 4-1 lead. After Logan Hughes worked a four-pitch walk, Kevin Alvarez hit a two-run RBI double to left field, scoring Durnin and Hughes for a 6-1 lead. Owen Nowak followed up by hitting an RBI triple to right field, scoring Alvarez for a 7-1 lead. Waner Luciano struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the third inning, Salem had a runner on first base when Martin Shelar hit a two-run home run to left-center field. The RidgeYaks trailed the Woodpeckers 7-3. It was his first home run of the season. Fraide came back to get the next three outs to end the inning.
Fayetteville would make up those runs back, plus more, in the bottom of the third inning. The Woodpeckers had the bases loaded with one out when Kam Durnin worked a four-pitch walk, scoring Aaron Piasecki for an 8-3 lead. After a mound visit, Logan Hughes hit a two-run RBI single to right field, scoring Arturo Flores and Jadyn Fielder for a 10-3 lead.
Kevin Alvarez struck out swinging, but a throwing error by Salem catcher Franklin Primera scored Durnin after Hughes stole second base for an 11-3 lead. A flyout by Owen Nowak ended the inning.
Juan Fraide went four innings, allowing five hits, three runs, one walk, and three strikeouts, throwing 76 pitches, of which 47 were strikes. Tazwell Butler pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the fifth inning. Moving to the top of the sixth inning, Butler put runners on the corners when Andrews Opata grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, scoring Colton Coates. It was now 11-4. A flyout by D’Angelo Ortiz ended the inning. Butler went two innings, allowing two hits, one run, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 29 pitches, of which 17 were strikes.
Leomar Rosario pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the seventh inning. He threw 13 pitches, of which six were strikes, to get the final three outs of the game. The Woodpeckers beat the RidgeYaks 11-4 for their eighth straight win.
Fayetteville finished game one with eight hits, committed two errors, went 6 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and left two men on base. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Tazwell Butler (2-0), and the loss went to Salem starter Christian Foutch (1-6).
In the game two, Jose Serrano was on the mound for Fayetteville against () of Salem. The Woodpeckers were the road team as this game was a makeup from a couple of weeks ago.
The game was scoreless in the first two innings. At the top of the third inning, Fayetteville had runners on second and third base, with one out when Kam Durnin hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Juan Sierra to give the Woodpeckers a 1-0 lead. Right fielder Logan Hughes followed up by hitting an RBI single to left field, scoring German Ramirez for a 2-0 lead. A flyout by Kevin Alvarez ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jose Serrano loaded the bases with two outs before he was replaced by Carson Estridge. A flyout by Franklin Primera ended the inning. Serrano went 4.2 innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts, throwing 77 pitches, of which 44 were strikes.
Moving to the top of the seventh inning, Carson Estridge loaded the bases with two outs when he walked Starlyn Nunez. It was now 2-1. Estridge was replaced by Brady Thomas. Thomas struck out Adonys Guzman to end the game. The Woodpeckers beat the RidgeYaks 2-1.
Fayetteville extends its winning streak to nine games. Estridge went two innings, allowing a hit, a run, and five walks, throwing 50 pitches, of which 19 were strikes, while Thomas struck out one, throwing three pitches, of which three were strikes.
Fayetteville finished game two with three hits, went 1 for 2 with runners in scoring position, and left three men on base. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Brady Thomas (2-0), and the loss went to Salem starter Ethan Walker (2-4).
The Woodpeckers and RidgeYaks play game four on Thursday at 6:35 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Ryan Verdugo (6-4, 4.33 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Berny Ortiz (0-4, 8.17 ERA) of Salem.
