Salgado, Five-Run Third Inning Help Woodpeckers Even the Series

Zebulon, NC - Bryant Salgado put together another strong outing on the mound Wednesday night at Five County Stadium as the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (33-37, 2-3) score five runs in a big third inning en route to an 8-5 win over the Carolina Mudcats (35-36, 1-4). Fayetteville evened both the current series and the season series with the victory.

Salgado (W, 5-4) was in control on the mound for most of his start. The righty went five innings, allowing just one run on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out three. The win for Salgado marks his fifth of the 2022 season, a Woodpeckers team high.

The offense got going early for Fayetteville in the top of the first inning. Cody Orr doubled to begin the ballgame before a pair of wild pitches from Mudcats starter Alexander Cornielle (L, 3-7) allowed Orr to come home and give the Woodpeckers a 1-0 advantage.

It was more of the same for Orr in the third inning, who doubled once again to begin the frame. Moments later, Leosdany Molina drove him in on a base hit to center to push the lead to two. The following batter, Joey Loperfido, sent a fly ball the other way over the left field wall for a two-run home run to make it 4-0. Justin Williams then singled and two batters later, Rainier Rivas ripped another two-run homer, his third long ball of the season.

Carolina got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a Jose Sibrian RBI double. In the sixth, Sibrian delivered once again, this time with a groundout that plated teammate Eduardo Garcia and brought the score to 7-2. A throwing error by Williams led to another run for the Mudcats, cutting the deficit down to four. But Fayetteville earned it back in the top of the ninth with Loperfido scoring on a wild pitch from reliever Jakob Brustoski.

Palmer Wenzel (SV, 1) took over on the mound for the Woodpeckers to pitch the final three innings. He ran into some trouble in the bottom of the ninth as Hedbert Perez doubled home a run and Zack Raabe scored Perez with a sacrifice fly to make things interesting. But Wenzel got Jesus Chirinos to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play to secure the win and earn his first save of the year.

The two teams head into the third game of the series

FULL BOX SCORE: https://www.milb.com/gameday/669935/final/box