Late Grand Slam Erases Fayetteville Lead in Finale With Augusta
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (49-59) held a 6-4 lead going into the ninth inning, before giving up a go-ahead grand slam and falling 8-6 on Sunday afternoon at Segra Stadium. With the loss, the Augusta GreenJackets (45-63) split the homestand with the Woodpeckers and close the season series
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (49-59) held a 6-4 lead going into the ninth inning, before giving up a go-ahead grand slam and falling 8-6 on Sunday afternoon at Segra Stadium. With the loss, the Augusta GreenJackets (45-63) split the homestand with the Woodpeckers and close the season series tied at six games a piece.
Jairo Lopez (L, 0-1) recorded the first out of the ninth, before loading up the bases on a double, a hit by pitch and a walk, which lifted him from the game. Kasey Ford took over on the mound and surrendered the go-ahead slam to Justyn-Henry Malloy, the first batter he faced, that gave Augusta the outright 8-6 lead.
Fayetteville opened the scoring early in the first with a two-run homer from Jordan Brewer against GreenJackets starter Joey Estes to go ahead 2-0. Augusta cut it to 2-1 with a Cam Shepherd RBI single in the second inning.
The ball continued to fly as Victor Mascai belted a leadoff home-run in the second that made it 3-1. Brewer drove in Michael Sandle with a single that extended Fayetteville’s lead to 4-1. The GreenJackets countered in the top third with an RBI groundout by Christrian Robinson and a two-run homer from Braulio Vazquez against Heitor Tokar that knotted the game up at four.
Lopez took over on the mound in the sixth, and tossed a scoreless frame to keep the game tied. Facing reliever Rolddy Munoz in the home half, Brewer and Quincy Hamilton connected with back-to-back two-out RBI doubles to take a 6-4 lead. Brewer finished 3-for-5, drove in a season-high four runs, and fell a triple shy of the cycle.
Lopez pitched two good innings before the getaway ninth. He retired the side in order in the seventh, and got a key play in the eighth when catcher Miguel Palma threw out Vazquez trying to grab third. It allowed him to face the minimum in the eighth and carry three scoreless innings into the ninth.
After giving up the lead, Dylan Spain (W, 1-0) closed it out by retiring the Fayetteville side in order. He struck out Mascai and Chad Stevens, capping the Augusta comeback with two scoreless innings in relief.
The Woodpeckers will enjoy an off-day on Monday and start a six-game away series on Tuesday against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (32-76) with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. E.T. Both starters are TBA.
FULL BOX SCORE:
GreenJackets 8, Woodpeckers 6 (Final Score) on Gameday (milb.com)