Feliciano Homers Twice as Mudcats Win Second Straight 7-4 in Zebulon

ZEBULON, NC - Mario Feliciano led off the second and fourth innings with solo home runs, Eddie Silva added a solo shot of his own in the sixth and Nelson Hernandez turned in his longest out of the season while leading the Mudcats to a series clinching 7-4 victory versus the Keys on Monday night at Five County Stadium.

Feliciano's two homer night led the way for the Mudcats (32-25) and gave him the outright Carolina League lead in home runs with 11 so far this season. His solo homer in the second tied the game at 1-1 and his solo shot in the fourth broke a 2-2 tie to put Carolina up 3-2. The Mudcats then added one more in the fourth and led the rest of the way while winning their second straight game versus the visiting Keys (28-28). 
Hernandez (W, 6-3, 5.18) started allowed just two runs, including the first run of the game in the second while seeing Frederick take an early 1-0 lead. He walked J.C. Escarra to open the second and, after a single from Ryan Ripken, then saw Escarra score on a sac fly from Jean Castillo.
Frederick led 1-0 midway through the second, but Feliciano then tied the game a moonshot home run to right off starter Dillon Tate. Both Payton Henry and Rob Henry followed with back-to-back hits and a fielder's choice later hit into by Eddie Silva would go on to score Payton Henry from third to put Carolina up for the first time at 2-1.
The Keys, however, came back with another run off Hernandez in the third after Yeltsin Gudino singled and scored on a double to deep right-center from Jomar Reyes. The Reyes double tied the game at 2-2, but was the second and final run allowed by Hernandez in his quality outing.
In all, Hernandez pitched through a season high six and 1/3 innings with six strikeouts, one walk and just two runs allowed on six hits in the victory. He also reached 93 pitches (56 strikes) while turning in his fourth quality start.
Feliciano then led off the fourth with a laser home run to deep left-center to break the tie and give the Mudcats the lead again at 3-2. Reliever Matthias Dietz, who allowed Feliciano's home run, then hit Rob Henry with a pitch before later allowing Henry to score on a wild pitch for the inning's second run.
Dietz (L, 1-6, 11.25) allowed two runs on two hits over three innings while taking the loss. He also walked four, hit three batters and struck out two while facing 16 batters overall. 
Dietz was preceded in the game by Tate who started and struck out three while also allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits over an inning and 2/3 for the Keys. 
Scott Burke followed Dietz and allowed a home run to Silva in the sixth. He also allowed two Carolina runs in the seventh including one on a two-out RBI double from Rob Henry. Julio Garcia also forced in a run while reaching on an error at second in the seventh.
The Mudcats were up 5-2 when Hernandez left the game in the sixth and newly added relievers Justin Topa and Phil Bickford followed in the seventh and ninth respectively. Topa left two inherited runners on, and left the bases loaded overall in the seventh while holding Carolina's 5-2 lead. He also retired the side in order in the eighth while pitching through an inning and 2/3 with two strikeouts and a hit in his Mudcats debut.
Bickford then entered the game in the ninth with Carolina leading 7-2 and struck out the first batter he faced on three straight pitches before allowing two hits and a walking a batter. 
Clayton Andrews then followed and went on to allow two inherited runners to score before getting two groundouts in the ninth to finish the game. Andrews (S, 7, 2.50) faced four in the ninth and allowed just one hit while earning his seventh save of the season.
Carolina's Monday night win clinched a series victory as it put the Mudcats up two games to none in the series. The Mudcats will next play for the sweep on Tuesday night when they host the Keys in the finale of the three game series at 7:00 p.m. on House Autry All-You-Can-Eat Tuesday night at Five County Stadium. The game will air live on the Mudcats Radio Network, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio. The game will also stream live in full high-definition video on MiLB.tv via Minor League Baseball's subscription service.
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