Weather Plagued Series Ends with Doubleheader Shortage
Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (47-59, 18-22 2nd Half) doubleheader plans were cut short on Sunday evening as rain and lightning caused the cancellation of game two, this following a 5-3 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats (56-50, 19-21 2nd Half) in the opener. Lynchburg led wire-to-wire after scoring three
Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (47-59, 18-22 2nd Half) doubleheader plans were cut short on Sunday evening as rain and lightning caused the cancellation of game two, this following a 5-3 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats (56-50, 19-21 2nd Half) in the opener.
Lynchburg led wire-to-wire after scoring three runs in the top of the first against Engel Peralta (L, 1-2). Welbyn Francisca clubbed a leadoff home run, a throwing error on a pickoff attempt to first base scored Jaison Chourio from third, and Juan Benjamin drew a bases loaded walk for the 3-0 Hillcats advantage.
Perlata was lifted from the game after recording just one out and was replaced by Luis Rodriguez. Rodriguez ate up 4.2 innings and surrendered just one run on a Manuel Mejias sacrifice fly in the top of the third that made it a 4-0 game.
Fayetteville cut it to a one-run contest on a Jancel Villarroel RBI single in the third and a Jason Shiavone two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. It marked the first professional hit and round-tripper for the 11th round pick out of James Madison University.
Abel Mercedes entered from the bullpen in the top of the sixth tasked with holding the 4-3 deficit. Mercedes surrendered five runs on Friday in a blown save and continued to struggle Sunday, walking three straight hitters to load the bases before the game entered a rain delay.
Following a 1 hour and 42 minute stoppage, Fayetteville ran out of bullpen arms and was forced to place catcher Will Bush on the mound in a bases-loaded no-out spot. Bush allowed one inherited runner to score on a sacrifice-fly, but navigated out of further trouble by stranding the bases loaded.
The catcher turned pitcher picked up three more outs in the seventh on a pop up and two flyouts. He logged an admirable 2.0 scoreless innings in his professional pitching debut to keep the game at 5-3 moving into the bottom of the seventh.
Reny Artiles (SV, 2) staved off a Fayetteville comeback by retiring three in a row to lock up the save.
After an off day Monday, Fayetteville will travel to North Augusta, South Carolina for a six-game road series against the Augusta GreenJackets starting at 7:05 PM Tuesday night. The Woodpeckers radio broadcast will be available for the entire series at fayettevillewoodpeckers.com and the MiLB App.
Full Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/753961/final/box