Woodpeckers Held Without a Hit in Series Finale

Myrtle Beach, SC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers were on the wrong side of history Sunday night at Pelicans Ballpark as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (59-28, 12-9) recorded a no-hitter and blanked the Woodpeckers (37-48, 6-14), 5-0. It was the second time this season that the Pelicans have no-hit a team, the other coming on May 1 against the Columbia Fireflies.

Five different pitchers combined for nine hitless innings for Myrtle Beach. Starter Tyler Schlaffer got the ball rolling with three impressive innings in which he struck out six Woodpecker batters. Luis Angel Rodriguez (W, 5-1) cleared that bar, pitching the next three frames and fanning eight. After that, the Pelicans took it inning by inning as Gregori Montano, Angel Hernandez, and Alfredo Zarraga finished off the historic performance.

Much like their first three wins in the series, Myrtle Beach scored all of their runs over the course of just two innings. The Pelicans hit the ground running against Fayetteville’s Bryant Salgado (L, 6-5) in the bottom of the first. Juan Mora led off with a base hit before a Kevin Made double put two in scoring position with no outs. James Triantos took advantage of the situation and ripped a double of his own to left for two runs. The two-baggers kept coming for Myrtle Beach as Ezequiel Pagan found the gap later in the inning to score Triantos and push the lead to 3-0.

Salgado settled down after the rough first inning to pitch 4.2 innings, allowing the three runs on five hits with just one walk and a pair of strikeouts. Fabricio Reina finished up the fifth inning before Nic Swanson took over and held the Pelicans scoreless in the sixth and seventh.

The eighth was a different story, however. Kevin Alcantara singled with one away before Pagan added to his impressive night with a two-run homer off Swanson for insurance. It was Pagan’s ninth home run of the season and his second and third RBI of the game.

Zarraga came on to pitch the ninth. He got Victor Mascai to line out, Miguel Palma to ground out, and Tyler Whitaker to pop out to finish off the no-hitter.

The Woodpeckers will have four days off during the MLB All Star break before playing a quick three-game series in Kannapolis beginning on Friday. This marks the final three games against the Cannon Ballers this season for Fayetteville.

FULL BOX SCORE: https://www.milb.com/gameday/669343/final/box