Batista’s Quality Start Not Enough in Fayetteville’s Loss to Pelicans

Myrtle Beach, SC - In a low-scoring contest Friday night at Pelicans Ballpark, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers just couldn’t find a way to scratch home runs.

A pair of runs in the sixth inning for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (57-28, 10-9) was all the home team needed as the Pelicans earned a 2-0 win over the Woodpeckers (37-46, 6-12) to pull even in the series. This was the sixth time in 2022 that Fayetteville was shutout.

The early innings were controlled by dominant pitching from both starters. Through the first five frames, Fayetteville’s Edinson Batista (L, 4-3) and Myrtle Beach’s Tyler Santana yielded no runs on a pair of hits each. Santana went back out for a sixth inning but was pulled after getting the first out and then hitting Cody Orr with a pitch before walking Leosdany Molina. On came Frankie Scalzo Jr. (W, 3-3) for the Pelicans, who got Joey Loperfido to fly out before fanning Justin Williams to escape the jam.

In the bottom half, Batista looked to be on his way to six scoreless, retiring each of the first two batters he faced. However, James Triantos laced a two-out double to keep the inning alive. Moments later, Kevin Alcantara lined a 1-0 pitch into center field to score Triantos and get Myrtle Beach on the board. The next batter was Ezequiel Pagan and after Alcantara advanced to second on a wild pitch, Pagan doubled him home to extend the Pelicans’ lead. It was a sour end to an otherwise impressive night for Batista, who tied a season-high six innings of work, surrendering the two runs on five hits with just one walk and nine strikeouts.

Scalzo was lights out in the seventh inning, striking out the side in order. He walked Freddy Guilamo in the eighth with one out but got Orr and Molina to strike out and ground out, respectively, to end the inning. Scalzo was lifted ahead of the ninth inning in favor of righthander Angel Hernandez (SV, 2), who gave up a leadoff single to Loperfido and then lost a wild pitch to the backstop. Hernandez settled in afterwards though, picking up a pair of groundouts before striking out Tyler Whitaker swinging to end the game.

With the series now tied at two, the attention shifts to Saturday night’s matchup. RHP Carlos Calderon will look to help the Woodpeckers rebound after two straight defeats while RHP Tyler Schlaffer seeks Myrtle Beach’s third consecutive win. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 ET.

FULL BOX SCORE: https://www.milb.com/gameday/669365/final/box