For the third consecutive game, a late-game push by the Down East Wood Ducks proved successful in taking down Fayetteville, serving the Woodpeckers their first sweep in the young franchise's history. A two-run eighth inning against Leovanny Rodriguez broke another deadlocked game between the South Division foes and gave Down
For the third consecutive game, a late-game push by the Down East Wood Ducks proved successful in taking down Fayetteville, serving the Woodpeckers their first sweep in the young franchise's history. A two-run eighth inning against Leovanny Rodriguez broke another deadlocked game between the South Division foes and gave Down East the 4-2 win. The loss, coupled with a walk off win from the Carolina Mudcats, sees Fayetteville fall to third place in the division standings for the first time since April 18th.
Just as they did the night before, Fayetteville opened the game with a run in the first inning. After his one-out single, Corey Julks advanced to second base when Seth Beer was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Julks scored on a grounder single into left field by Colton Shaver.
JP France earned the start for Fayetteville and tip-toed around trouble in his first two frames. In the second inning, France walked a pair and allowed a base hit to load the bases with no outs. With his back against the wall, France rallied to retire the next three batters and strand the runners, but France then took it a step further by retiring the next seven for a string of 10-straight outs to close his day with 4 1/3 scoreless innings., coming just one strikeout shy of matching his career high eight.
The Fayetteville offense fell silent after that first inning, however, when Wood Ducks starter Jason Bahr allowed only a single hit after the second inning. Bahr worked his way through the sixth before finally departing, striking out five and not surrendering a walk. It was the third consecutive quality start from the Down East staff, and the Wood Ducks offense eventually paid the debt.
Against Hunter Martin out of the bullpen, Down East came close to tying the game in the sixth inning when Diosbel Arias singled to right field with two runners on and one at second base, but Bryan De La Cruz took the ball on one bounce and fired home to retire the lead runner at the plate. With two outs in the frame, Ryan Dorow hurt Fayetteville once again, driving in two runs on a single to right field, giving Down East the lead.
Still struggling to score, Fayetteville was fortunate enough to string together a pair of doubles, the latter an RBI knock by De La Cruz up the left field line. Bryan finished the day going 2-for-for with the double, extending his latest hit streak to six games. The eighth inning hits came off of Peter Fairbanks, who took a blown save by allowing the tying run, but the pitcher was eventually saved when some offense by Down East gave Fairbanks (1-0) the win in the bottom of the frame.
With Leovanny Rodriguez on the mound, Arias stuck again for Down East with a single to right field. The infielder quickly found his way to third base on a stolen base, coupled with a throwing error from the catcher Colton Shaver. Rodriguez (1-2) walked the next batter he faced, and quickly allowed a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring the eventual winning run. Yohel Pozo added an insurance run for good measure before the eighth inning came to an end. Fayetteville went down in order in the ninth, and the sweep was complete.
With Fayetteville now in third place, the Woodpeckers will try to right the ship on Monday when they start a seven-game homestand that starts with four games against the Lynchburg Hillcats. Chad Donato will pick up the start for Fayetteville at Segra Stadium, with first pitching scheduled for 7:00PM.
