April 14th, 2024
Zebulon, NC- On Sunday the Carolina Mudcats (7-1) finished up their week long series with the Down East Wood Ducks (4-4) by earning another hard fought 6-4 win. The Mudcats, who now hold sole possession of first place in the North Division over the Fredericksburg Nationals (6-2), used great pitching and timely hitting to get the victory.
Yorman Galindez took the rubber for the Mudcats on Sunday and Luis Valdez had the start for the Wood Ducks. Galindez went 2.1 scoreless of 1-hit ball. Valdez went 3 innings and gave up 3 earned.
In the top of the 1st, Galindez was able to navigate around a infield hit by Julian Brock to give up no runs. In the bottom half, Luis Castillo’s line drive single was the only action from the Mudcats. In the top of the 2nd, Galindez navigated around a 2 out walk to allow no runs in the second. In the bottom half, the Mudcats used some gutsy base running to score 1 run to take a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the 3rd, the Wood Ducks got 2 walks, but Galindez and Osbriel Mogollon got 3 straight outs to avoid any damage. In the bottom half, the Mudcats bats scored 3 runs to lead 4-0. First, Yophery Rodriguez singled which led to a 2 run no-doubt home run by Castillo. Then, Kay-Lan Nicasia had a double followed by Blayberg Diaz who had anq RBI double to score the 3rd run of the inning.
Yorman Galindez threw 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball today.
In the top of the 4th, Mogollon navigated around a single and a walk to not allow any runs. In the bottom half the Mudcats put runners on the corners, but an excellent defensive play by Down East prevented any damage. In the top of the 5th, Mogollon shut down the Down East offense to not allow any base runners. In the bottom half, a Nicasia double and 2 infield ground outs added a run to the Mudcats lead making it 5-0. In the top of the 6th, Mogollon navigated around a walk to prevent any damage. In the bottom half, the Mudcats continued to add to their offense with a Reidy Mercado single and a Rodriguez double to make the lead 6-0.
Osbriel Mogollon threw 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball.
In the top of the 7th, Aidan Maldonado shut down the Down East offense with a pair of strikeouts. In the bottom half, the only action from the Mudcats was a ground-rule double from Jose Acosta. In the top of the 8th, the Wood Ducks offense was able to put up 2 runs on a Gleider Figuereo home run to make it 6-2. In the bottom half, the Mudcats would load the bases, but they could not add to their lead. In the top of the 9th, the Wood Ducks would only add 2 runs on a 2-run home run by Marcus Smith to make it 6-4.
The Carolina Mudcats moved to 8-1 on the season while the Down East Wood Ducks fell to 4-5 on the season. The winning pitcher was Osbriel Mogollon, and the losing pitcher ended up being Luis Valdez. The Mudcats extended their lead in the North Division to 2.0 games. The Mudcats will play again at the Augusta GreenJackets on Tuesday April 16th, 2024.