The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (36-45, 6-9 second half) returned from the four-day all-star break and led wire-to-wire in a 5-2 victory over the Augusta Green Jackets (38-43, 7-9 second half) on Friday night at Segra Stadium.
The lineup clubbed a pair of home runs, and a duo of Fayetteville arms combined to go the distance.
The top of the Woodpeckers lineup jumped on Augusta starter Tyree Thompson (L, 0-1), striking for three runs in the bottom of the first. Luis Encarnacion slugged a solo home run to left field, his fifth of the season, for an early 1-0 lead. Tyler Whitaker followed with a walk and reached third base on a Ricardo Balogh double down the left field line.
With two in scoring position, Jackson Loftin pushed a line drive single into center field to drive home both runners for a 3-0 advantage.
Tyler Guilfoil (W, 3-1) dominated on the mound with the run support behind him. The right-hander out of the University of Kentucky allowed just one baserunner over five scoreless innings and fell one shy of a season-high with seven strikeouts.
Jose Fleury (SV, 3) took over from the bullpen in the top of the sixth and allowed Augusta to get on the scoreboard with an RBI double by Justin Janas.
Garrett McGowan quickly got the run back and more with a two-run shot to right center field in the bottom of the sixth, marking the largest lead of the night at 5-1. The homer was the first for McGowan at home and measured 416 feet.
Fleury allowed another run in the seventh on an RBI single to Jair Casanova but was steady the rest of the night, setting down the final eight batters he faced and closing the book with eight total strikeouts.
The three-game weekend series continues Saturday night with first pitch scheduled at 5:05 p.m.
Fayetteville is projected to start right-hander Alimber Stanta (2-5, 5.49 ERA). Augusta will counter with left-hander Samuel Strickland (2-3, 6.16 ERA).
The radio broadcast of the game can be heard at https://www.milb.com/fayetteville/fans/audio-listen-live.
