The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (37-46, 7-10 second half) lineup strung together a franchise record seven doubles on Sunday afternoon in a lopsided 9-2 victory over the Augusta GreenJackets (39-44, 8-10 second half) at Segra Stadium.
Eight of nine Fayetteville bats notched a hit in the rubber match, clinching the three-game weekend series out of the all-star break.
The Woodpeckers never surrendered the lead after grabbing a quick run in the bottom of the first off Augusta starter Seth Keller (L, 1-1). Leadoff hitter Ricardo Balogh reached on a fielding error and quickly scored on a double to center field by Luis Encarnacion.
A big three-run fourth inning helped distance Fayetteville the rest of the way as Jackson Loftin and John Garcia drove home runs with singles, and a double steal with runners at the corners scored Loftin for a 4-0 advantage.
Carlos Espinosa (W, 1-1) was nearly unhittable with the run support behind him. The 21-year-old right-hander from Cuba carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning and allowed just two base runners on a walk and double across five scoreless innings. He also set a new single-A season-high mark with eight strikeouts.
The offensive barrage continued as Fayetteville scored runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Tyler Whitaker connected for a fifth-inning RBI single, Leosdany Molina added a sac-fly in the sixth, and three RBI doubles from Whitaker, Luis Baez and John Garcia in the seventh blew the game wide open at 9-zip.
The 19-year-old outfielder Luis Baez finished his Fayetteville debut 2-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. Baez currently ranks as the 21st overall prospect in the Houston Astros minor league system, according to MLB.com.
Amilcar Chirinos entered from the bullpen in the sixth and carried the shutout bid into the ninth until Bryson Worrell led off with a triple and Jeremy Celedonio slugged a two-run homer. Chirinos went on to record a pair of outs before Austin Temple took over on the mound and struck out Ambioris Taverez to end the game.
The Woodpeckers are off Monday before traveling to Lynchburg, Virginia, on Tuesday to take on the Lynchburg Hillcats (Single-A, Cleveland Guardians) in a six-game road series.
The first pitch on Tuesday night is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and starting pitchers have not been announced.
The Woodpeckers radio broadcast will travel on the road for the series and can be heard at milb.com/fayetteville/fans/audio-listen-live.
Box score: milb.com/gameday/727979/final/box
