Binelas, Bello & Martinez Hit Homers in 10-7 Victory

Carolina 10 @ Fayetteville 7

September 14, 2021 | Venue : SEGRA Stadium | First pitch : 6:33 PM | Att : 1,899 | T : 3:39

CAR: 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 4 10 11 1
FAY: 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 1 7 12 1

WP: Justin Miller (1 - 1) LP: Ronny Garcia (0 - 1)

FAYETTEVILLE – Alex Binelas, Micah Bello and Ernesto Martinez each hit solo home runs and Eduardo Garcia used his fourth hit of the night to break a 6-6 tie in the ninth as the Mudcats defeated the Fayetteville Woodpeckers 10-7 in the first game of a six-game series on Tuesday night at SEGRA Stadium in downtown Fayetteville.

Carolina (66-49) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Binelas’ home run with two outs in the first. The home run was his third in his last three games and his fifth in his last six. The Woodpeckers (52-63), however, went on to tie it at 1-1 in the last of the first after getting a RBI double from Nerio Rodriguez.

Bello then broke the 1-1 tie with a solo home run in the fourth and Martinez extended the lead to 3-1 with a home run of his own in the fifth. Bello’s homer was his fourth of the year, with all four coming over his last 18 games. The Martinez big fly was his first since July 22 and his tenth of the season.

Carolina’s 3-1 lead evaporated quickly though as Fayetteville immediately answered the Martinez homer with two runs in the last of the fifth to tie the game at 3-3. Fayetteville’s Kobe Kato hit a home run to start two run frame, while Will Wagner came through with a game-tying double.

Starter Alexander Cornielle allowed both of Fayetteville’s fifth inning runs and three runs overall in his start. Cornielle struck out four, walked one and allowed six hits over four and 1/3 innings in his second start with the Mudcats.

Reliever Miguel Guerrero took over for Cornielle in the fifth and eventually escaped the frame without allowing any other runs to keep the game tied at 3-3. That tie only lasted one more frame though as the Woodpeckers scored twice in the sixth to go up 5-3. Guerrero allowed both runs in the sixth and ended up allowing two runs over an inning and 2/3.

Reliever Justin Miller went on to follow Guerrero out of the Carolina pen and was able to hold the Woodpeckers scoreless in the seventh before allowing one run (Nathan Perry home run) in the eighth. The Mudcats would reward Miller’s strong effort on the mound by scoring three runs in the eighth, and four in the ninth while taking the first game of the series 10-7. Miller (1-1, 15.55) went through two innings and allowed just the one run and one hit while earning the win.

The Carolina eighth featured three runs, but just one hit. The inning began with Bello and Darrien Miller taking consecutive hit-by-pitches before a single from Garcia to load the bases. The Woodpeckers were forced to go to their pen as Ronny Garcia replaced Carlos Calderon, but Garcia would end up hitting Hedbert Perez to force in a run and a sac fly from Martinez would score another. Garcia (0-1, 3.68) then lost a wild pitch to allow in the last Carolina run of the frame.

The game was tied 6-6 going into the ninth, but the Mudcats would get a go-ahead, two-run single from Garcia and another two-run hit from Noah Campbell while breaking the tie and taking a 10-6 lead. Fayetteville later rallied for a run against reliever James Meeker in the ninth, but would end up settling for just the one late run. The run was Meeker’s first earned run allowed since joining the Mudcats.

Despite the win, Carolina’s elimination number to make the championship series fell to just two with five games remaining as the Salem Red Sox also won on Tuesday night. The Mudcats additionally remained at 3.0 games back in the Low-A East Central standings behind Down East.

HOME RUNS:

Carolina HR : Binelas (7, 1st inning off McDermott, 0 on, 2 out); Bello (4, 4th inning off McDermott, 0 on, 0 out); Martinez, E (10, 5th inning off Brockhouse, 0 on, 0 out).

Fayetteville HR : Kato (2, 5th inning off Cornielle, 0 on, 0 out); Perry (5, 8th inning off Miller, J, 0 on, 0 out).

TOP PERFORMERS - BATTERS:

Garcia, E, SS (Carolina): 4-for-5, 2 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI

Binelas, DH (Carolina): 1-for-5, 2 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Bello, RF (Carolina): 1-for-3, 3 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Miller, D, C (Carolina): 2-for-3, 2 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Martinez, E, 1B (Carolina): 1-for-2, 1 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Mascai, 1B (Fayetteville): 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Perry, C (Fayetteville): 2-for-4, 2 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Sandle, CF (Fayetteville): 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI

Wagner, SS (Fayetteville): 1-for-5, 0 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Rodriguez, Ne, DH (Fayetteville): 1-for-5, 0 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI

TOP PERFORMERS - PITCHERS:

Cornielle (Carolina): 4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Guerrero (Carolina): 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

Miller, J (W, 1-1) (Carolina): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

Meeker (Carolina): 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO

McDermott (Fayetteville): 3.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO

Brockhouse (Fayetteville): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

Calderon (Fayetteville): 2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO

SCORING:

Mudcats 1st (Mudcats 1, Woodpeckers 0) -- Ethan Murray struck out looking. Tyler Black strikes out swinging. Alex Binelas hits a home run to right field on a 2-0 pitch. Micah Bello grounds out, Justin Williams to Victor Mascai.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Woodpeckers 1st (Mudcats 1, Woodpeckers 1) -- Michael Sandle walks. Joey Loperfido strikes out swinging, Michael Sandle steals 2nd base. Will Wagner struck out looking. Nerio Rodriguez doubles to left-center field, Michael Sandle scores. Quincy Hamilton strikes out swinging.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Mudcats 4th (Mudcats 2, Woodpeckers 1) -- Micah Bello hits a home run to left-center field on a 1-2 pitch. Darrien Miller strikes out on foul tip. Eduardo Garcia struck out looking. Pitcher Change: Walker Brockhouse replaces Chayce McDermott. Hedbert Perez grounds out, Kobe Kato to Victor Mascai.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Mudcats 5th (Mudcats 3, Woodpeckers 1) -- Ernesto Martinez hits a home run to right field on a 0-0 pitch. Noah Campbell strikes out swinging, Nathan Perry to Victor Mascai. Ethan Murray struck out looking. Tyler Black walks. Tyler Black caught stealing 2nd base, Nathan Perry to Will Wagner.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Woodpeckers 5th (Mudcats 3, Woodpeckers 3) -- Kobe Kato hits a home run to right field on a 2-2 pitch. Michael Sandle hit by pitch. Wild pitch by Alexander Cornielle, Michael Sandle to 2nd. Joey Loperfido grounds out, Tyler Black to Ernesto Martinez, Michael Sandle to 3rd. Will Wagner doubles to left-center field, Michael Sandle scores. Pitcher Change: Miguel Guerrero replaces Alexander Cornielle. Nerio Rodriguez pops out to Tyler Black. Wild pitch by Miguel Guerrero, Will Wagner to 3rd. Quincy Hamilton walks. Quincy Hamilton caught stealing 2nd base, Darrien Miller to Eduardo Garcia.

(2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Woodpeckers 6th (Woodpeckers 5, Mudcats 3) -- Victor Mascai singles to shallow right field. Justin Williams strikes out on foul tip. Nathan Perry singles to center field, Victor Mascai to 2nd. Kobe Kato flies out to Hedbert Perez, Victor Mascai to 3rd. Michael Sandle doubles to left-center field, Victor Mascai scores; Nathan Perry scores. Joey Loperfido hit by pitch. Wild pitch by Miguel Guerrero, Michael Sandle to 3rd; Joey Loperfido to 2nd. Will Wagner flies out to Noah Campbell.

(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB)

Mudcats 8th (Mudcats 6, Woodpeckers 5) -- Micah Bello hit by pitch. Darrien Miller hit by pitch, Micah Bello to 2nd. Eduardo Garcia singles to shallow right field, Micah Bello to 3rd; Darrien Miller to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Ronny Garcia replaces Carlos Calderon. Hedbert Perez hit by pitch, Micah Bello scores; Darrien Miller to 3rd; Eduardo Garcia to 2nd. Ernesto Martinez out on a sacrifice fly to Quincy Hamilton, Darrien Miller scores; Eduardo Garcia to 3rd. Wild pitch by Ronny Garcia, Eduardo Garcia scores; Hedbert Perez to 2nd. Noah Campbell walks. Ethan Murray grounds into double play, Justin Williams to Victor Mascai, Hedbert Perez out at 3rd, Ethan Murray out at 1st.

(3 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Woodpeckers 8th (Mudcats 6, Woodpeckers 6) -- Nathan Perry hits a home run to right-center field on a 2-2 pitch. Kobe Kato grounds out to Ernesto Martinez. Michael Sandle pops out to Ernesto Martinez in foul territory. Joey Loperfido grounds out, Eduardo Garcia to Ernesto Martinez.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Mudcats 9th (Mudcats 10, Woodpeckers 6) -- Tyler Black singles to left field. Alex Binelas reaches on fielding error by Victor Mascai, Tyler Black to 2nd. Tyler Black picked off and caught stealing 3rd base, Nathan Perry to Kobe Kato to Justin Williams, Alex Binelas to 2nd. Micah Bello walks. Darrien Miller singles to center field, Alex Binelas to 3rd; Micah Bello to 2nd. Eduardo Garcia singles through the hole at shortstop, Alex Binelas scores; Micah Bello scores; Darrien Miller to 2nd. Hedbert Perez pops out to Justin Williams in foul territory. Ernesto Martinez walks, Darrien Miller to 3rd; Eduardo Garcia to 2nd. Noah Campbell singles to right field, Darrien Miller scores; Eduardo Garcia scores; Ernesto Martinez to 3rd. Pitcher Change: Kasey Ford replaces Ronny Garcia. Noah Campbell advances to 2nd on defensive indifference. Ethan Murray pops out to Will Wagner.

(4 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Errors, 2 LOB)

Woodpeckers 9th (Mudcats 10, Woodpeckers 7) -- Pitcher Change: James Meeker replaces Justin Miller. Will Wagner flies out to Noah Campbell. Nerio Rodriguez strikes out swinging. Quincy Hamilton singles to left-center field. Victor Mascai doubles to center field, Quincy Hamilton scores.

(1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)