The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (32-40, 2-4 second half) grabbed an early three-run lead in the first inning on Friday night and carried it to a 4-1 victory over in the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (39-32, 4-2 second half) in six innings as heavy rain led to the action being called early at Segra Stadium.
The offense jumped out to a 3-zip lead on the first three at-bats in the game facing Peyton Pallette (L, 0-2). Zach Cole started the first inning with a single and was doubled home by Luis Encarnacion on a fly off the left field wall. Switch-hitter Dauri Lorenzo followed in the next at-bat with a two-run homer over the right-center field fence for the instantaneous 3-0 advantage.
The homer was the second of the season for Lorenzo and his first at home.
On the mound, Tyler Guilfoil walked the first two hitters he faced but quickly turned his start around after a mound visit. The right-hander out of the University of Kentucky struck out three straight hitters to close out the first inning and went on to punch out a season-high eight Kannapolis bats across four scoreless frames.
In the bottom of the fifth, Roilan Machandy upped the lead on one of the most electric plays of the season. The nine-hitter clubbed a high fly ball off the top of the left center field wall that bounced back toward the center field grass. Machandy hustled hard around third and made it safe to home with a head-first dive for the inside-the-park home run.
It jumped the score to 4-1 and marked Fayetteville’s first in-the-park-home-run since Kobe Kato in September 2021.
Jose Fleury (W, 2-3) pitched the final two innings before the game was called. He retired the side in order in the fifth and allowed a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Jhoneiker Betancourt that finalized the score at 4-1.
The series continues Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
Fayetteville is projected to start right-hander Alimber Santa (2-5, 5.80 ERA); Kannapolis will turn to left-hander Tyler Schweitzer (6-2, 3.45 ERA).
Box score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/727989/final/box
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