CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6-17 vs Augusta

June 17, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Fireflies continue their series with the Augusta GreenJackets at Segra Park tonight at 7:05 pm. Righty Delvin Capellan (1-2, 3.51 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Augusta sends RHP Tanner Gordon (0-3, 5.74 ERA) to the bump.

Gates open at 6 pm for Budweiser Thirsty Thursday at Segra Park. Fans can purchase $2 pints of Bud Light at the Budweiser Bow Tie Bar and all draft beers and fountain sodas are half-price all evening long. We're also honoring First Responders tonight, if you show your ID or badge as a first responder, you will receive a voucher for a free 16 oz beer or 24 oz fountain soda. We will also honor eight heroes of the inning during the game.

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NINTH INNING RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 7-5 LOSS TO AUGUSTA: Herard Gonzalez lifted a three-run homer in the ninth, but the Fireflies fell short in a 7-5 loss to the Augusta GreenJackets at Segra Park Wednesday evening. The Fireflies hopped out of the gates quickly against the GreenJackets (18-20). Tyler Tolbert tripled in the first and came around on a Maikel Garcia base hit to put Columbia in front 1-0. The run gave Garcia a team-high 19 RBI on the season. In the third, Matt Schmidt snapped an 0-26 streak with a double and scored on a Rubendy Jaquez liner to right field to push Columbia's lead to two. Starter Cruz Noriega allowed a pair of runs in the fourth from a Landon Stephens homer to tie the game before handing the ball to the bullpen. Patrick Smith (L, 1-1) ran into some trouble in the fifth that put runners on the corners. Vaughn Grissom stole second to prompt Cam Shepherd to steal home which gave the GreenJackets a 3-2 lead that they never surrendered. Adrian Alcantara walked a season-high five batters en route to giving up three runs in his shortest outing of the season. On the other hand, Jake McSteen (W, 1-0) was efficient in his first start in the Low-A East League. Augusta's lefty fanned five in as many innings while only offering 68 pitches, 45 of which honed in for strikes.

HERO HERARD: When infielder Herard Gonzalez blasted a three-run homer in the ninth last night, he became the second Fireflies hitter to homer in back-to-back games in 2021, following Jake Means, who accomplished the task May 27-28. The switch hitter is hitting .295 with three blasts against righties this season, compared to .059 against lefties.

KAUFMAN TURNS KORNER: After giving up eight runs without recording an out in his first start in Augusta May 8, Rylan Kaufman has been electric. In six outings, four of which have been starts, the southpaw has worked 23.2 innings and has allowed three runs. During that time, the Texas-native has punched out 30 batters while allowing only 13 hits in that span. The stretch included a 9.2 inning scoreless streak from May 20-June 8 where Kaufman wrung up 13 hitters.

SCHMIDT'S STRIKEOUTS: Matt Schmidt is going through a tough stretch at the plate, the first baseman is in an 0-26 skid and prior to the first inning of Friday's game, had 13 strikeouts in his last 13 at-bats dating back to May 29 vs Augusta. He ended the streak with a popout.

EVERYONE WANTS TO BE APART OF A TURNAROUND: After giving up a run in two innings of relief work at Augusta May 8, it looked like righty Nathan Webb would have another season similar to his previous four years in Minor League Baseball. The Missouri-native has a 5.86 career ERA. Since then, the righty has spun 10 scoreless innings and has fanned 20 batters while allowing only three hits. His opposing batting average has dropped from .231 to .149 and his season WHIP is now an incredible 0.93.

MARQUIS MARQUEZ: When southpaw Emilio Marquez gave up a run in the ninth inning last night, it snapped a 14.2 inning scoreless streak dating back to an outing May 14 against the Charleston RiverDogs. The stretch embodied six outings where Marquez punched out 23 batters, held opponents to a .156 average and had a 0.62 ERA. Following the game, the southpaw's ERA sat at 1.29, when he started the streak, his ERA rang in at 4.50 ERA.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics



Carolina League Stories from June 17, 2021


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