Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 7.12 at Charleston
July 12, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Columbia Fireflies continue their series with the Charleston RiverDogs tonight at Joe Riley Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Emmanuel Reyes (4-2, 3.69 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Charleston counters with lefty Chris Villaman (5-1, 1.98 ERA).
The Fireflies return home Friday, July 19 for the start of Dino Weekend! Join us as we have a Mason Triceratops Bobblehead giveaway July 19, Jurassic World Night July 20 and we'll bring back Ed's Dinosaurs real life interactive dinosaurs Sunday, July 21. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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THREE HOMERS, SIX-RUN THIRD LEAD TO 11-6 WIN: The Fireflies scored double-digits for the ninth time this season behind a six-run third inning and three homeruns to beat the Charleston RiverDogs 11-6 Thursday Night at Joe Riley Park. Columbia scored six runs in the third inning off five hits, including Blake Mitchell's 12th homer of the season. The backstop launched a 425' bomb 106 MPH off Luis Gill Hill (L, 3-1) to give Columbia a 3-1 lead to start the frame. Austin Charles smashed his own homer later in the frame to give Columbia a 5-1 lead, but the straw that broke the camel's back came from Aldrin Lucas who punched a double down the left field line to score Dionmy Salon, Jhonny Perdomo and Brennon McNair to waltz ahead 8-1. Perdomo closed out the night for Columbia's offense too. The infielder mashed a three-run homer that plated Charles and Erick Pena in the top of the fourth, giving Columbia an 11-4 lead. The homer was Perdomo's first of the season and the fourth of his professional career so far.
GOING STREAKING: Catcher Dionmy Salon is riding a hot streak for Columbia. He is on his longest hitting streak of the season, an 11-game stretch that began June 9 and is the second-longest active hitting streak in the Carolina League. He trails Esteban Gonzalez who has hit in 13-consecutive games for the Lynchburg Hillcats. Salon is 13-30 (.433) on the run and has six RBI. Salon has increased his batting average from .165 to .239 during the strech which encapsulates over one quarter of his games played this season. Columbia's backstop has also scored a run in four-straight games, which is the longest active streak for a Fireflies player.
KICKING WITH KIRKLAND: In Doug Kirkland's last eight outings, he has allowed just one earned run spanning 14.1 innings of work (0.63 ERA). In that time, he has 17 punchouts and his opponents are hitting .119 against him. In his first full professional season, Kirkland is 3-3 with a 2.60 ERA. He has an outlandish 37 strikeouts in 27.2 innings and opponents are hitting just .176 against him this season.
I CAN SEE THE FUTURE: Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced their All-Star Future's game rosters, which contained a pair of former Fireflies player. RHP Ben Kudrna was Kansas City's second rounder in 2021 and after spinning a 3.48 ERA in 17 starts in 2022, he was named the Columbia Fireflies Pitcher of the Year by the Royals. Gavin Cross was also named to the roster. The outfielder was selected in the first round of the 2022 draft out of Virginia Tech and reached base safely in his final 22 games with the Fireflies that same season.
THIS IS 40: Thursday night, Austin Charles drove in three RBI, giving him 43 on the young season. In 2023 only three Fireflies finished the season with 40 or more RBI: Brett Squires (69), Lizandro Rodriguez (44) and Daniel Vazquez (43). The Fireflies single-season RBI record belongs to Juan Carlos Negret, who drove in 76 runs in a shortened 2021 season thanks in part to a franchise record 23 homers in a single season.
ROCKING ROSADO: Columbia's reliever has paced the way for the bullpen. After a strong showing in June, he's kept the ball rolling in July to bring his season ERA down to 2.00. Rosado has allowed just one run in his last 15.2 innings (0.57 ERA). In his last 11 outings, he has 19 punchouts compared to just seven walks. His biggest improvement has been reducing his walk rate. Last year, Rosado walked 16.7% of batters faced. This year, he's at a 7.6% walk rate.
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- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 7.12 at Charleston - Columbia Fireflies
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