RiverDogs Break Free in Eighth, Take First Game from Fayetteville

By: RiverDogs Media

Charleston, SC- The Charleston RiverDogs registered five runs on six hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to turn a one-run deficit into a 9-6 win over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers on Tuesday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The victory was just the team’s third of the season when entering the eighth inning facing a deficit. Estanli Castillo’s first home run of the season, a three-run blast, punctuated the outburst in front of a crowd of 3,207.

Fayetteville (29-35) began the eighth inning with a 5-4 advantage. Reliever Amilcar Chirinos had retired all six batters that he faced over his first 2.0 innings of work. That changed right away in his third frame, when Dominic Keegan led off with a hard single through the right side. Keegan advanced to second on a roller to first from Cooper Kinney. A triple to the wall in right field from Ryan Spikes tied the game and placed the go-ahead run at third base. The RiverDogs (26-38) grabbed the lead with an RBI single moments later from Odalys Peguero. Another single from Christopher Barete put two on base with two outs for Castillo. The right fielder came through with the blast to the opposite field in his first game at The Joe since May 7.

Drew Sommers entered in the ninth to close out the victory. He allowed a solo home run to Frank Perez and allowed the tying run to reach the plate before ending the game with a groundball to short. The run allowed by Sommers was his first earned run surrendered in 12 appearances.

Each team put a crooked number on the board in the first inning. Fayetteville scored three runs before Jake Christianson could record the first out of the game. Zach Cole worked a leadoff walk and Luis Encarnacion followed with an infield single. Ricardo Balogh made it 3-0 in favor of the visitors with a blast to right center field that cleared the wall for his fourth home run.

In the bottom of the inning, Xavier Isaac reached base with a one out walk and advanced to third base on a double from Keegan. The next four batters each drove in a run to put the RiverDogs in front 4-2. Kinney singled, Spikes did the damage with an infield hit, Peguero pushed a run across with a bouncer to first and Barete rolled a base hit through the right side of the infield.

Charleston maintained the lead until the fifth. That inning began with a double from John Garcia and a single by Perez to place runners on the corners against Christianson. Cole tied the game with a sacrifice fly and Balogh gave the Woodpeckers the lead with an RBI single. Christianson went 4.2 innings in his first start since May 21. He allowed five runs on six hits with a career-high eight strikeouts.

Matt Wyatt earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Jeff Hakanson was dominant in 1.1 innings, striking out all four batters that he faced. The RiverDogs four pitchers struck out a combined 16 Fayetteville batters.

Keegan led the RiverDogs 12-hit attack by going 3-4 with a double and two runs scored. Kinney, Spikes and Barete each added two hits. Fayetteville received two hits from Encarnacion, Balogh and Perez. Balogh drove in four runs.

Ballpark Fun

On many nights throughout the season, the RiverDogs offer giveaways and promotional items to the humans filing through the gates at The Joe. On a Dog Day Tuesday presented by Twisted Tea, the canines received a gift before this contest. The first 100 dogs into the ballpark received a fetch ball with a number on it. A number was chosen at random, and the winner received a prize pack courtesy of Twisted Tea.

Still in search of their first Wednesday win of the season, the RiverDogs will meet the Woodpeckers again at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday night. RHP Yoniel Curet (4-1, 3.50) will work first on the mound for the RiverDogs. Fayetteville will hand the ball to LHP Trey Dombrowski (2-5, 3.64).

RiverDogs season tickets, flexible ticket plans, and group tickets, including options to the Segra Club at Riley Park, are available at riverdogs.com/tickets or by contacting the RiverDogs front office at 843-577-3647 (DOGS).

Charleston 9, Fayetteville 6

June 20, 2023

Click here for the box score

Fayetteville (R-H-E): 6-9-0
Charleston (R-H-E): 9-12-1

Win: Wyatt (1-4)
Loss: Chirinos (0-2)
Save: 

HR: Fayetteville: Ricardo Balogh (4, 1st inning, 2 on base), Frank Perez (1, 9th inning, 0 on base)
HR: Charleston: Estanli Castillo (1, 8th inning, 2 on base)

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