Flores' Tenth Home Run Leads Charge in Third Straight Win

Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (36-35, 4-2 2nd Half) led wire-to-wire on Thursday night and grabbed their third straight victory over the Delmarva Shorebirds (25-47, 2-4 2nd Half) in a 5-1 final at Segra Stadium. The win puts Fayetteville over .500 overall for the first time all season and keeps the club at the top of the north division to begin the second half.

Arturo Flores instantly opened the scoring with a two-run homer, timing up a 100 MPH fastball from Esteban Mejia (L, 0-5) and sending it onto the roof of the right field bar for a 2-0 lead. Flores has had a strong month at the plate, batting .373 with five homers and 13 RBI in June.

Adam Shoemaker worked his longest start of the season since joining the Astros organization, working into the fifth inning and allowing one unearned run in the top of the second when a throwing error allowed Jose Perez to score. Fayetteville’s lone lefty struck out six dropped his season ERA to an even 3.00 and handed the ball to Charlie Weber in the fifth.

Fayetteville padded the lead throughout the night on a Waner Luciano RBI double in the bottom of the third, a Yosweld Vasquez sacrifice-fly in the bottom of the fourth, and a Brandon Nigh RBI single in the eighth. Nigh recorded his first Single-A base hit on a single in the sixth inning and reached base in all four trips to the plate on two walks and two singles.

Weber (W, 4-1) and Ryan Mathiesen silenced the Shorebirds lineup over the final four innings of the game. The duo combined to retire 11 straight hitters to close the game and lock up a third straight win at home.

The series continues on Friday night on Baseball Heritage Night when the Fayetteville Generals take the diamond for the first time since 1996. Fayetteville is projected to start RHP Javier Perez opposite Delmarva’s RHP Andrew Herbert. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Full Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/827249/final/wrap