Butto Deals, Fireflies Win Series in Lexington
June 27, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
LEXINGTON, KY - Fireflies manager Pedro Lopez called upon Jose Butto to start Wednesday's rubber match against Lexington. Butto was given the opportunity to lead Columbia to a series win against the Southern Division's first half champions. The 21-year-old pitched admirably in the performance. Butto tossed six innings while allowing just one run on five hits. The Fireflies capitalized on the strong outing with a 2-1 victory over the Legends.
Columbia (4-3, 28-45) struck first in the affair. Ronny Mauricio unloaded on the first pitch of the game, roping a leadoff double into the right field corner. Hansel Moreno advanced Mauricio to third on a sacrifice bunt. Mauricio then scored when Mark Vientos grounded out to the right side. The run marked Vientos' fourth straight game with an RBI. The Florida native is hitting .320 since the all-star break, and has driven in nine runs thus far in the second half.
Lexington (2-5, 39-37) responded in the bottom of the second. Nick Hutchins drilled a 1-1 fastball over the fence in left for a solo home run. The longball was Butto's lone mistake of the afternoon. It was also the only run surrendered by the Fireflies pitching staff during the day.
Butto and Charlie Neuweiler (L, 3-8) traded zeros for the next several innings. The Legends did have a decent scoring chance in the sixth, however. Nate Eaton singled with two away in the inning. Hutchins followed Eaton with a single of his own through the middle. The base hit would have put runners at the corners, but Hutchins strayed too far from first after the knock and was thrown out attempting to get back to the bag.
Danny Hrbek (W, 1-0) took over for Butto in the seventh. The former Legend reliever faced his former team for the first time since being let go by the Royals organization this spring. The righty allowed two men to reach, but escaped the inning unscathed.
The Fireflies broke the 1-1 tie a half inning later. Gerson Molina legged out a hustle double with one out. He advanced to third on a Mauricio groundout, then scored when Neuweiler heaved an errant breaking ball that got away from the catcher.
Hrbek was pulled in the bottom of the eighth after allowing back-to-back batters to reach base to start the frame. Billy Oxford came in from the pen to relieve Hrbek. The former Azusa Pacific Cougar recorded three consecutive outs to escape the jam.
Allan Winans (S, 2) entered in the ninth looking for the save. Winans retired the first two men he faced, then allowed a two-out walk to Jackson Leuck. The free pass proved to be uncostly, however, as Jose Caraballo grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game. The win gave Columbia their first series victory over Lexington on the season.
The Fireflies will return to Segra Park on Thursday for the series opener against Hickory. Christian James (2-5, 4.64) gets the nod for the first game of four against the Crawdads. You can tune in to the action at FirefliesLiveStream.com or at MiLB.TV.
The game also marks another Budweiser Thirsty Thursday TM at Segra Park. Bud Lights are on sale for $1 all night. All draft beer and fountain drinks will be sold at half-price.
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