Woodpeckers Outlast Red Sox 7-6 to Even Series

SALEM, VA - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (28-35) rallied for five runs in the fifth and held off a late comeback to defeat the Salem Red Sox (36-28) on Friday night at Haley Toyota Field. The victory for the Woodpeckers evens the series with the Red Sox at two games apiece.

Both starting pitchers dueled early, putting up three scoreless innings each before the Woodpeckers broke through their second time down the order.

Jordan Brewer connected with a leadoff single in the fourth against Bradley Blalock (L, 0-5) , and stole second base to get into scoring position. Nerio Rodriguez followed with a walk, and Brewer advanced to third on a flyout to right from Nate Perry. Blalock then uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Brewer to make it 1-0. In his Woodpeckers debut, Franklin Pinto scored Rodriguez with an RBI double to make it 2-0.

The offense continued to pile on in the fifth with a five-run rally. After Ronaldo Urdaneta was hit by a pitch, J.C. Correa brought him home on an RBI double to make it 3-0. Luke Berryhill followed up with a two-run home run that made it 5-0 and chased Blalock from the game. Facing reliever Alexander Montero, the Woodpeckers loaded up the bases with two more walks and a single. Two more runs would score on a wild pitch and a fielding error by shortstop Matthew Lugo, giving the Woodpeckers a 7-0 lead.

Cushioned with the lead in the middle innings, Misael Tamarez (W, 3-2) worked through five innings, surrendering two runs in the fifth and striking out a season-high eight. Alfredi Jimenez (SV, 1) took to the mound in the sixth and worked two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the eighth.

Down to their final six outs, the Red Sox tagged Jimenez with three runs in the eighth on a Stephen Scott RBI double and back-to-back RBI groundouts to cut the Fayetteville lead to 7-5. The Woodpeckers loaded up the bases in the ninth with nobody out, but were unable to bring home an insurance run, stranding them full against Ryan Fernandez.

Trying to complete a seven-run comeback, Nicholas Northcut doubled against Jimenez to start the bottom of the ninth, and Nick Yorke brought him home on a sac fly to make it a one-run game. With the bases clear, Jimenez struck out Gilberto Jimenez to secure the victory for the Woodpeckers and secure the four-inning save.

The Woodpeckers will look to grab the series lead tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. E.T. Salem will start LHP Jeremy Wu-Yelland (0-3, 3.55) and Fayetteville will counter with RHP Shea Barry (2-1, 6.23).

FULL BOX SCORE: Woodpeckers vs. Red Sox Box Score | 07/16/21 (milb.com)