Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.27 at Carolina
August 27, 2023 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies close out their series with the Carolina Mudcats today at 1 pm at Five County Stadium. RHP Mauricio Veliz (4-6, 5.22 ERA) takes the rubber for Columbia and Carolina counters with RHP Will Childers (2-3, 5.26 ERA).
The Fireflies will come home for one last homestand at Segra Park in 2023 as they face the Delmarva Shorebirds August 29-September 3. We'll host Retro Video Game Night, a Budweiser Thirsty Thursday and will wrap up the season with a Sunday Funday. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES DROP BACK-AND-FORTH GAME 9-5: The Fireflies fell behind late in a back-and-forth contest, allowing six runs in the last two innings, losing 9-5 to the Mudcats Saturday night at Five County Stadium. Lizandro Rodriguez started the Fireflies seventh inning rally. The switch hitter pulled his sixth homer of the season to right field to tie the game 3-3. Trevor Werner drew a walk and then came around on a Jared Dickey triple to right field to give Columbia their first lead since the fourth inning. That lead didn't last long either though. Eduardo Herrera entered the game and gave up a single to Jace Avina that set the tone for the inning. Gregory Barrios walked to push runners to the corners to allow Dylan O'Rae to single, scoring Barrios and putting the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Later, Carolina successfully executed a double steal to go up 5-4 heading into the eighth inning.
HOT START: Carson Roccaforte started his Carolina League career on an eight game hitting streak. Even though the hitting streak ended last Friday against Myrtle Beach, Roccaforte has reached base safely in each of his first 15 games in the circuit. The lefty is 16-55 with 14 walks and has put together a .437 on-base percentage while swiping eight bases and driving in nine RBI.
CAREER MILESTONES FOR RAYO: Last night, Oscar Rayo notched another quality start. The lefty is 21 years old and already in his third season in professional ball. Across those three seasons, the southpaw has now thrown 125 innings. In 131 frames he is 7-3 with a 3.02 ERA. He has held opponents to a respectable .241 average while keeping his walk rate low to earn an elite 1.11 WHIP. If that weren't enough, he also has 138 punchouts or 9.48 per nine innings pitched.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Tonight, Columbia is playing their 119th game of the 131 games they have scheduled to play. The club has two road trips remaining, with one game against Carolina and six against Myrtle Beach remaining. They will also play six more games remaining at Segra Park this year. They'll play six games against the Delmarva Shorebirds from August 29-September 3 to close out their home schedule. With 13 games remaining, the Fireflies trail the Charleston RiverDogs by nine games in the South Division second-half standings.
WERNING OPPONENTS: Trevor Werner has demolished the baseball in the first five games against Carolina. Wednesday in the second, Werner hit his third homer of the series and he has gone 9-19 with three blasts and twp double so far this week. It's hard to believe the hot stretch actually started well before this series began, Werner is riding a 10-game hitting streak right now. On the run, Werner is 15-39 (.385) with three homers and 13 RBI in just nine games dating back to August 14. His streak is the longest Fireflies hitting streak since Javier Vaz had an 11-game hitting streak to finish the 2022 season. Hot on his heels, Daniel Vazquez is also riding a eight-game hitting streak, which is the 19-year-old's longest hitting streak of the season and his second streak of six or more games.
DUCKS ON THE POND: The Fireflies bats have found their way against the Carolina Mudcats the last few nights. Friday, the club had a season-best 17 hits in a 12-4 win over the Mudcats. Saturday, the team added another 10 hits in a loss. Over the two games 17 of Columbia's 18 hitters in the starting lineup notched a hit, with Omar Hernandez's 0-4 outing last night the lone zero on the board for the Fireflies.
Carolina League Stories from August 27, 2023
- Pelicans Fall in Resumed Game, Finish Series with Victory Over Cannon Ballers - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Baez's Three-Run Bomb Lands Fayetteville Fifth Road Win in Kinston - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Nationals Outlast Salem 8-7 In 13 Innings - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Narrow Victory Lifts Hillcats to Split with Delmarva - Lynchburg Hillcats
- First-Place Mudcats Fall 9-0 to Columbia - Carolina Mudcats
- RiverDogs Finish off Series Win with 1-0 Shutout - Charleston RiverDogs
- GreenJackets Drop Pitcher's Duel in Series Finale - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Blast Past Mudcats 9-0 - Columbia Fireflies
- Fayetteville Clinches Series - Down East Wood Ducks
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.27 at Carolina - Columbia Fireflies
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