Fayatteville, N.C. (WBTW)- Miguel Amaya blasted his first-career grand slam as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans held off the Fayetteville Woodpeckers 6-4 to take game three and secure a series win from Segra Stadium on Friday night.
For the second night in a row, the Woodpeckers (5-5, 36-43) scored first and could not hold the lead.
Jake Adams drove in a run in the bottom of the first inning when he doubled off the left-field fence, Corey Julks scored and the Woodpeckers led 1-0 after one.
Fayetteville added to their advantage in the second inning when Enmanuel Valdez singled home Jonathan Arauz to make it 2-0.
The Pelicans (5-5, 26-51) did not trail for long, however, as they put up five runs in the top of the third inning.
Kevonte Mitchell and Yeiler Peguero led off the inning with back-to-back singles and Zach Davis , who celebrated his 25th birthday on Saturday, drove in Mitchell on a single up the middle that put the Pelicans on the board and cut the gap to 2-1. After a walk to Carlos Sepulveda loaded the bases, Amaya destroyed a grand slam to left off of Austin Hansen (L, 1-1) and launched the Pelicans in front 5-2.
The Woodpeckers chipped away in the sixth inning when Jonathan Arauz slashed a two-run homer off of Alexander Vargas (W, 2-2) to bring the score to 5-4 in favor of the Pelicans.
Myrtle Beach added some insurance in the seventh when Peguero led the inning off with a walk, stole second and third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Jimmy Herron that made it 6-4 Pelicans.
In the ninth, Garrett Kelly entered out of the bullpen and sealed the deal on the Birds’ fifth-consecutive win on his second save of the year.
The Birds will go for the series sweep on Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. RHP Javier Assad (2-5, 3.32) will toe the rubber against RHP J.P. France and the Woodpeckers in the finale of the series.
Coverage starts at 5:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast and the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Apps.
