Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 7.23 vs Kannapolis
Published on July 23, 2026 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers tonight at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Jose Gutierrez (7-3, 3.39 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Kannapolis counters with RHP Gabe Tanner (3-2, 2.79 ERA).
Tonight is True Crime Mystery Night at Segra Park! Help the Fireflies crack the case of who kidnapped Mason. Every good sleuth deserves great meal deals too! Enjoy $1.50 Budweisers and hot dogs while at Segra Park tonight. Tickets are available now at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES PEN WORKS 7.2 FRAMES IN 4TH SHUTOUT OF YEAR: The Fireflies got a huge boost from their bullpen, led by Dash Albus in their fourth shutout of the season. Columbia's relievers spun 7.2 innings in a 4-0 victory over Kannapolis Wednesday night at Segra Park. Fireflies starter Coleman Picard left the game after being struck in the left leg by a 102 MPH line drive off the bat of Nick McClain. Dash Albus (W, 4-2) entered the game and stranded the inherited runner to get through the top of the second and maintain a 1-0 Columbia lead. After that, Albus plowed through the Kannapolis order to go deep in the game for the Fireflies bullpen. The southpaw worked a career-high 3.2 innings and retired the final seven batters he faced to keep Columbia in command. Next, Yeri Perez (H, 3) worked two hitless innings with one walk and a pair of strikeouts to keep the shutout intact. Finally, Randy Ramnarace closed out the game with two scoreless innings to complete Columbia's fourth shutout of the season. It was the team's first shutout since July 5-which Picard also started.
STERLING STARTERS: The Fireflies starting rotation has the top ERA in Minor League Baseball this season. The group has recorded a 21-19 record combined with a 3.44 ERA over 405.1 innings through the first 92 games of the season. Fireflies starters have 404 strikeouts and have held opponents to a .236 AVG on the season. The Frederick Keys have the second-best mark in MiLB with a 3.77 through 374.1 innings pitched this season. Overall, the Fireflies hold the fourth-best team ERA in Minor League Baseball at 4.11. The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers lead the way with a 3.77 mark.
LUMINOUS LOMBARDI: Michael Lombardi has been a master of the strikeout this season. Sunday, he etched three strikeouts over 3.1 innings of work. Lombardi leads the Carolina League in strikeouts with 99. Lombardi is on the doorstep of becoming the seventh Fireflies pitcher to strikeout 100 batters in a season. Tony Dibrell owns the Fireflies single-season strikeout record at 147. The last Fireflies player to notch 100 strikeouts in a season was Felix Arronde, who struck out 103 in 2024.
THE GAMBLER: Sean Gamble struggled out of the gates at the plate this season. The first rounder hit just .118 across 21 games in April, but near the end of May, the centerfielder turned the page. Since May 21, Gamble is hitting .267 across 46 games. He leads the team in OBP (.399), is second in OPS (.790) and leads the club in runs scored (35) and stolen bases (18) during the stretch.
THE GREAT HOMERUN RACE: Friday night, Hyungchan Um smashed his eighth homer of the season to left field. He now matches JC Vanek and Ivan Sosa for the most homers on the Fireflies this season. Last year, only Ramon Ramirez cracked double-digit homers for Columbia (11).
RICARDO RIPPING: Yandel Ricardo is on a red-hot stretch right now. Columbia's infielder has had multiple hits in five-consecutive games. On the run, Ricardo is 13-19 (.684) with a double, two triples and a homer. He has driven in nine RBI and scored seven runs. The longest multi-hit game streak in franchise history belongs to Shervyen Newton, who had six-consecutive games from July 5-12, 2019. On the run, Newton was 14-27 (.519) with three doubles and a homer. He also scored four runs and drove in six RBI.
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