After rain postponed Thursday night’s game, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (68-53, 36-20) took on the Salem RidgeYaks (52-70, 27-30) in game four on Friday night at Segra Stadium. Jagger Beck was on the mound for Fayetteville against Leighton Finley of Salem.
The game was scoreless for five innings. Jagger Beck allowed two hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts, throwing 75 pitches, of which 48 were strikes. Jhoster Baez pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the sixth inning. With two outs and a runner on third base, Salem catcher Kleyver Salazar put the RidgeYaks up 2-0 with a two-run home run to left field. It was his 12th home run of the season. A groundout by Adonys Guzman ended the inning.
Baez allowed two hits, two runs, and one strikeout, throwing 19 pitches, of which 13 were strikes. Ryan Verdugo pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the seventh inning.
Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on first base with one out when Waner Luciano hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Kevin Alvarez. It was now 2-1. Two batters later, Juan Sierra brought Luciano home with a sacrifice fly to center field, tying the game 2-2. With two outs, Fayetteville had the bases loaded when Logan Hughes walked on four pitches, scoring Petey Soto Jr. to give the Woodpeckers a 3-2 lead.
Kam Durnin followed up by hitting a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Arturo Flores and Rashawn Galloway for a 5-2 lead. Kevin Alvarez followed up by hitting an RBI single to right field, scoring Logan Hughes for a 6-2 lead. A flyout by Owen Nowak ended the inning.
Ryan Verdugo went three innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts, throwing 52 pitches, of which 31 were strikes, to get the final nine outs of the game. The Woodpeckers came back to beat the RidgeYaks 6-2 for their tenth straight win.
Fayetteville finished the night with eight hits, went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 men on base. The win went to Fayetteville pitcher Ryan Verdugo (7-4), and the loss went to Salem pitcher Carson Revay (0-1).
The Woodpeckers and RidgeYaks play game five on Saturday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App and Bally Sports Live. Adrian Ardines (0-0, 6.17 ERA) will be on the mound for Fayetteville against Sadbiel Delzine (4-2, 2.65 ERA) of Salem.
