Santos, Gonzalez Impress as Woodpeckers Even Series with GreenJackets
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC – Yeriel Santos and Rafael Gonzalez combined for a dominant bullpen effort Friday night at SRP Park as the duo blanked the Augusta GreenJackets (39-69, 12-31) over seven innings to lead the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (49-61, 20-24) to a 6-1 victory. With the win, Fayetteville has tied the
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC – Yeriel Santos and Rafael Gonzalez combined for a dominant bullpen effort Friday night at SRP Park as the duo blanked the Augusta GreenJackets (39-69, 12-31) over seven innings to lead the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (49-61, 20-24) to a 6-1 victory. With the win, Fayetteville has tied the series at two games apiece and have clinched at least a split in the season series with the GreenJackets.
The Woodpeckers fell behind 1-0 in the second inning when starter Yanquiel Sanchez surrendered a two-out RBI single to Wilmer De La Cruz. However, Fayetteville quickly rallied in the top of the third. Four straight hits off Augusta starter Owen Hackman (L, 0-2), including run-scoring doubles by both Joseph Sullivan and Trevor Austin, gave the Woodpeckers a 2-1 lead.
Santos (W, 5-5) took over for Sanchez in the bottom half and kept the GreenJackets’ offense at bay. The 20-year-old gave up just three hits and two walks while striking out three in his second scoreless outing over his last four games. Fayetteville’s offense provided some insurance during this stretch when Austin singled home Lucas Spence in the fifth and Will Bush had a pop-up fall into shallow left for an RBI single in the sixth. Two more runs came across in the eighth for the Woodpeckers thanks to a Bush RBI ground rule double and a Max Holy single that brought in Nehomar Ochoa Jr.
After Santos departed ahead of the seventh, on came Gonzalez (SV, 1) in just his third Single-A appearance. The Dominican-born righty was nearly perfect, allowing no hits over the final three innings while striking out seven. It was the most strikeouts for Gonzalez in a game since May 21 when he fanned eight in a game with the Florida Complex League Astros.
Fayetteville now turns its attention to Saturday night with the upper hand in the series on the line. RHP Luis Rodriguez gets the ball for the Woodpeckers while Augusta is expected to start RHP J.R. Ritchie. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.