Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.5 at Augusta
Published on August 5, 2023 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off their weekend with a double header at SRP Park vs the Augusta GreenJackets. Southpaw Oscar Rayo (3-0, 1.61 ERA) takes the ball in game one and lefty Ryan Ramsey (1-0, 0.32 ERA) takes the hill in game two for Columbia. Meanwhile Augusta sends RHP Hurston Waldrep (Debut) in game one and forkballer Samuel Strickland (4-1, 3.26 ERA) in game two.
Columbia returns home for a 12-game homestand vs the Charleston RiverDogs and Myrtle Beach Pelicans August 8-20 at Segra Park. Join us for Nickelodeon's PAW Patrol Night August 12, a Ben Kudrna Bobblehead night August 18 and Faith & Family Night August 19. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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REYES SETS CAREER-MARK IN 6-2 LOSS: Despite Emmanuel Reyes' career-best nine strikeouts for Columbia tonight, the Fireflies couldn't emerge on top as they fell 6-2 to the GreenJackets Friday evening at SRP Park. Reyes (L, 0-2) went 4.1 innings allowing four runs, three of which were earned. After his first two starts, he has 15 strikeouts in his first nine innings in a Fireflies uniform. Columbia jumped on top in the first inning thanks to back-to-back doubles from Lizandro Rodriguez and Austin Charles to give the club a 1-0 lead. The club closed out their scoring in the seventh. Brett Squires singled to lead-off the inning. After he advanced on a wild pitch, Hayden Dunhurst laced a base knock to right to cut Augusta's lead to 6-2.
BREAK OUT THE RAY-O BREAD: Oscar Rayo continued his role through the pitching utility role Friday. Rayo spun a season-high 5.2 innings while punching out a career-best eight batters to allow the Fireflies to get through the game after a rough start. The southpaw has a 1.61 ERA this season in what has mostly been a long-relief role--although he has also worked a few spot starts too. Sunday was his first save opportunity of the season, and he didn't disappoint, setting down Kannapolis 1-2-3 with a punchout.
ROLLING RAMSEY: Ryan Ramsey came out and had another phenomenal game Saturday vs Carolina. The southpaw worked 5.1 scoreless innings with six punchouts while allowing only a pair of hits and a walk. Ramsey has not allowed a run since the third inning of his first start of the season back on April 15 at Charleston. Since then, he has spun 25.1-consecutive innings without allowing a run. The mark is the third-longest streak in Fireflies history without allowing a run. It trails Adonis Uceta who went 29.1 innings from May 11-July 22, 2017 and Matt Blackham who worked 26.2 frames from July 4-September 1, 2017.
CATCHING UP: Last week, the Fireflies catching room had a monumental series at the plate. All three catchers had a homer and Dionmy Salon led the Fireflies with a .444 average in three games. Hayden Dunhurst also had a .400 average in a trio of games in the series. After a two-hit game Sunday, Omar Hernandez had the third-best average amongst Fireflies bats, going .333 in the series. The three's OPS were all over .900 for the week, going 1.434, 1.355 and .908 in the same order as they were just listed. On the season, Dunhurst is hitting .185 in 16 games and Salon is hitting .204 in 56 games while Hernandez leads the way, hitting .243 in 64 games.
LET THEM COOK: After Shane Panzini spun five, one-run innings last night vs Augusta, the Fireflies rotation has been on fire during their three-game winning streak. Mauricio Veliz started the trend with seven shutout innings and after the off-day, Ben Hernandez kept it up with his first quality start of his career. Reyes joined the fold allowing three earned runs in 4.1 innings while adding a career-high nine strikeouts Friday. All-in-all, the rotation has allowed only four earned runs in its last 22.1 innings (1.61 ERA).
NEW FACES, NEW PLACES: Yesterday, the Royals sent Levi Usher and Brennon McNair to the development list to make room for outfielders Spencer Nivens and Jared Dickey. The Fireflies also added third baseman Trevor Werner this week and RHP Emmanuel Reyes last week. The club will likely see both Nivens (5th rd) and Dickey (11th rd) make their Fireflies debut during today's doubleheader.
Carolina League Stories from August 5, 2023
- Ramsey Sets Fireflies' Record in Win - Columbia Fireflies
- Double Play Ends RiverDogs' Comeback Hopes in Extra-Inning Defeat - Charleston RiverDogs
- Nats Drop Heartbreaker 11-7 - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Fayetteville Falls in Second Straight to Mudcats - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Castillo Drives in Two as Mudcats Take Series Lead 3-2 - Carolina Mudcats
- Pelicans Fall 7-1 to Wood Ducks - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.5 at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Woodies Return the Favor - Down East Wood Ducks
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