Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6.12 vs Myrtle Beach
June 12, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tonight at Pelicans Ballpark at 7:05 pm. RHP Mauricio Veliz (0-1, 4.05 ERA) makes his return from the Injured List for the Fireflies today and Myrtle Beach sends RHP Erian Rodriguez (3-3, 3.75 ERA) to the bump.
Columbia returns home June 18 to play eight games in six days against the Carolina Mudcats. The Fireflies are kicking out all the stops with Miller Lite $2 Tuesday, Budweiser Thirsty Thursday and our new Friday and Saturday happy hours where fans can enjoy $5 drafts prior to first pitch. Saturday is also Bluey at the Ballpark night, presented by Cassell Brothers Home Services. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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WINNING STREAK ENDS AT SIX IN 2-0 LOSS: The Fireflies bats were silenced behind their third quality start in their last five games as they fell 2-0 to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Pelicans Ballpark Tuesday evening. Felix Arronde (L, 3-5) kept up Columbia's stretch of solid starting pitching going. The righty worked seven innings while allowing two runs off two solo homers while punching out five before handing the ball to the bullpen. It was Columbia's third quality start in their last five games. The Fireflies only needed one bullpen arm. Connor Fenlong allowed a pair of hits in the eighth, but worked in and out of trouble thanks to a pair of punchouts to keep it a two-run game.
FIRST-CLASS FIREFLIES: Columbia's pitching staff has been hot over the last week. In the team's last seven games, it is 6-1 with a 1.16 ERA. The club has 39 strikeouts in 62 innings of work while maintaining a 0.82 WHIP and a .188 opposing average. In all of Minor League Baseball (120 teams), The Fireflies have the best ERA and WHIP of all 120 teams and are ranked 7th in opposing batting average. Bowie leads Minor League Baseball with a .166 opposing average during the run. The team's ERA has decreased from 3.83 to 3.50 during the run. The bullpen has been particularly good, working a 3.07 ERA this season. that's the fifth-best bullpen ERA in Minor League Baseball, trailing Rocket City with a 2.27 mark.
NEXT LEVEL CATCHING: Dionmy Salon has worked particularly well with the pitching staff this year. In 20 games, the Fireflies have a 2.63 ERA when Salon catches, compared to 3.99 in 28 games with Blake Mitchell and 3.95 in eight games with Gabriel Silva. This is Salon's second season helping manage the Fireflies pitching staff. Last year, he ended the season with a 3.79 staff ERA across 43 starts behind the dish.
ROCKING WITH REYES: After a difficult April, where Emmanuel Reyes recorded a 6.04 ERA in 25.1 innings across five starts, the righty has shut down his opponents. In his last five starts, Reyes is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in 26 innings. Since May 1, Reyes has a balmy 1.12 WHIP and has worked five or more innings in four consecutive starts. Columbia's starter just turned 20 in May and is working in part of his second season in the Carolina League.
TOUGH LUCK: Last night, Felix Arronde became the first Fireflies pitcher to lose five games this year. All-in-all, he's gotten some bad luck in the run support column. Arronde has three quality starts this season and an 0-2 record to go along with it. In the righty's 11 starts this year, the Fireflies have scored 10 runs across the 53 innings where he's been on the mound. In other words, Arronde has been averaging 1.70 runs of support per nine innings of work this season. That's the lowest mark in the starting rotation this year by a significant margin. The next lowest belongs to Hunter Patteson, who averaged 3.35 runs of support over 51 innings in 11 starts.
POWERING PENA: Saturday night, Fireflies outfielder Erick Pena mashed his Carolina League-leading fourth round tripper of the season. He's currently eighth in the Carolina League with a .485 on-base percentage. Pena has had a storied career with Columbia. He made the Opening Day Roster in 2022 and started his career with a bang, launching a walk-off homer against the Augusta GreenJackets on Opening Night. All-in-all he has mashed 23 homers in the neon and navy, nine in 2022, 10 in 2023 and four this year. It places him second on the Fireflies all-time homer leaderboard, behind Dash Winningham (25 in 2016 and 2017) and tied with Juan Carlos Negret (23 in 2021).
Carolina League Stories from June 12, 2024
- Woodpeckers End Skid in Walk-off Fashion Over Salem - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Late Runs Down Pelicans in 10-6 Loss to the Fireflies - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Mudcats Roll Past Nationals Behind 14-Hit Effort - Carolina Mudcats
- Six-Run 10th Leads Fireflies to Victory - Columbia Fireflies
- Hillcats Win in Shutout versus GreenJackets - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Early Runs Lead Shorebirds to Victory over Cannon Ballers - Delmarva Shorebirds
- GreenJackets Shut out in 5-0 Loss to Lynchburg - Augusta GreenJackets
- Five-Run Sixth Takes Down Freddies - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6.12 vs Myrtle Beach - Columbia Fireflies
- Ninth Inning Lead Slips Away as RiverDogs Are Stunned for Fifth Straight Loss - Charleston RiverDogs
- Greens Rally for 10-Inning Win - Down East Wood Ducks
- GreenJackets Announce TD the Rally Turtle Summer Reading Program for 2024 - Augusta GreenJackets
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