The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (44-53, 14-17 second half) played 13 innings of baseball on Tuesday night and split a doubleheader against the Carolina Mudcats (52-42, 19-12 second half) with a 4-3 defeat and an 8-1 victory.
Game 1
In the resumption of a suspended road game in Zebulon on July 9, action picked up in the top of the second inning with the Woodpeckers trailing 2-0. Fayetteville served as the road team in the game despite playing at Segra Stadium.
Subbing for the recently promoted John Garcia, Ryan Johnson took over the leadoff spot and began the third inning with a double against Alexander Vallecillo. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout to second base by Luis Encarnacion.
Johnson delivered again in the fifth, slugging a two-run homer for a 3-2 lead. It was Johnson’s second home run in three games since debuting with Fayetteville on Saturday night.
Tyler Guifoil was the Woodpeckers’ starter and dominated over his first three innings, striking out eight and allowing just one baserunner on a walk. Come the bottom of the fifth, Jesus Chirinos led off with a triple and scored on a Blayberg Diaz groundout that tied the game 3-3.
Guilfoil finished with a season-high nine strikeouts and was lifted from the game in the sixth after allowing a one-out double to Luis Lara.
Austin Temple took over from the bullpen and allowed the inherited runner to score the go-ahead run on a single by Luis Castillo.
Trailing 4-3 in the top of the seventh, Chase Costello worked around a Sandro Gaston single and stranded the tying run to lock up the game.
Box score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/728315/final/box
Game 2
Back as the home team, the Woodpeckers grabbed a quick lead facing Jesus Rivero off a sacrifice fly by Luis Baez that scored Brice Matthews. Matthews walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second for a 2-0 lead and finished with three total walks in the game.
Carolina grabbed itsir only run of the game in the top of the third on an RBI single from Daniel Guilarte that made it a 2-1 game. Fayetteville starter Jose Fleury struck out the first five batters he faced, fanned six total, and departed after three innings in his first appearance since July 20.
Seven hitters stepped to the plate for Fayetteville in the fourth inning. Jackson Loftin and Luis Baez each connected for RBI singles to jump the lead to 4-1. Sandro Gaston added two more runs in the fifth with a single, and another pair crossed in the sixth on an RBI single by Garret Guillemette and a Pascanel Ferreras double that capped the 8-1 score.
Guillemette went 1-for-2 in his debut with a walk, hit by pitch and three runs scored. Ferreras also made an impact in his first Single-A game, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
Out of the bullpen, Ian Foggo and Kasey Ford combined for four scoreless innings of relief work. Each right-hander struck out three Carolina bats to help close the game.
Box score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/727975/final/box
