SALEM, Va. – The Salem RidgeYaks (47-59, 22-19) took care of business on Saturday night, defeating the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (53-52, 21-19), 6-2, at Carilion Clinic Field to move into first place.
Salem jumped on the scoreboard in the third inning and never looked back, scoring six runs across the second through fourth innings. The RidgeYaks collected eight hits and received a dominant effort from the pitching staff, which limited Fayetteville to two runs on nine hits while striking out eight.
Fayetteville struck first in the top of the second, but Salem quickly answered in the bottom half. After Louis Andujar singled and advanced to third on a wild pitch, Andruw Musett brought him home with a single to center field. The Yaks later scored a second run off a balk to take a 2-1 lead.
The RidgeYaks broke the game open in the third.
Franklin Primera and Adonys Guzman opened the inning with consecutive walks before Andujar delivered again, lining a RBI double to left field to give Salem a 3-1 lead. Andrews Opata then followed with a two-run single, scoring Andujar and Guzman to push the advantage to 5-1.
Salem added another run in the fourth. Henry Godbout was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single from Starlyn Nunez. With two outs, Godbout stole third and Nunez stole second before a throwing error by the catcher Arturo Flores allowed both runners to advance, giving the RidgeYaks a 6-1 advantage.
Fayetteville added their final run off a German Ramirez RBI single in the fifth.
Andujar led the Salem offense with a three-hit night, going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Opata added a hit and drove in two, while Musett collected a hit and an RBI.
On the mound, Leighton Finley turned in five strong innings to earn his sixth win of the season. Finley allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking none across 82 pitches.
The Salem bullpen took over from there. Caden Vire worked 1.1 scoreless innings before Nicolas De La Cruz struck out two and retired all five batters he faced, allowing no hits or runs. Harry Blum then closed out the victory with a scoreless ninth inning.
The RidgeYaks also made an impact on the basepaths, stealing four bases in the victory. Andujar, Opata, Godbout and Nunez each swiped a bag.
With the victory, Salem moves to 22-19 in the second half and takes first place with the win.
The RidgeYaks and Woodpeckers conclude their six-game series on Sunday afternoon with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch as the Yaks look to take five of six and build a lead atop the North Divison.
Game Notes
- For the fourth time this week Fayetteville struck for the first run but Salem moves to 3-1 in those games
- Leighton Finley went five innings for the ninth time this season
- Finley now leads the team in wins (6), innings (81.1) and strikeouts (81)
- Harry Blum saw a scoreless ninth inning for his fourth consecutive scoreless outing since July 26
- Louis Andujar went 3-for-4 with his 13th multi-hit effort of the season
- Over his last 27 games since June 27, Andujar is leading the Carolina League with a .350 average (36-for-103) with 23 RBI, six homers, and a 1.070 OPS
- Andujar has recorded a hit in 21 of his last 27 games after collecting hits in just five of his first 20 games
- Franklin Primera saw a first inning single to extend his hitting streak to eight games and his on-base streak to 17 games
- Salem went 3-for-10 hitting with runners in scoring position and stranded six men on base
- The RidgeYaks are in first place for the first time since July 29
- Salem also clinches the series win with their fourth win in five nights
- Salem wins their fifth series this season (third in a six-game set)
- The RidgeYaks also take their first six-game series at home since April 7-12 vs Wilson