Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta 8.28
August 28, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Augusta GreenJackets tonight at SRP Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Felix Arronde (4-8, 3.23 ERA) climbs the hill for Columbia and Augusta counters with RHP Logan Samuels who is making his professional debut.
The Fireflies return home for their final homestand of the regular season September 3-8. They'll close out the year with three firework shows, Harry Potter Night presented by Lowe's Foods with a Hogwarts House Scarf giveaway and USC Night presented by E.F. Martin with a rally towel giveaway. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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FIREFLIES RALLY FOR DOUBLEHEADER SPLIT: The Fireflies rallied behind the bullpen and a late Austin Charles homer to split a doubleheader with the GreenJackets. Columbia lost the first game 8-0 before winning the second game 6-5. Columbia's rally started in the top of the fourth inning. With runners at second and third, Daniel Vazquez lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate Colton Becker to cut the GreenJackets lead to two. Next, the GreenJackets issued back-to-back walks to Blake Mitchell and Austin Charles to trot Torres around to a 4-3 score.
BULLPEN MANIA: The Fireflies bullpen has been the highlight of the team all season. After holding things together through a doubleheader Tuesday where the pen worked 9.1 innings, Columbia's bullpen leads Minor League Baseball with a 3.02 ERA over 509 innings in 2024. The club's bullpen record is 43-19 with 33 saves on the season. The pen has also punched out 545 opponents this season while holding opposing teams to a .220 average. The second-place team is the Midland Rockhounds, who have a 3.04 ERA through their first 120 games in the Texas League. Midland has worked 480 innings this year.
THIS IS 60: Tuesday, Austin Charles drove in two RBI thanks to a late homer to give him 60 RBI on the campaign. In 2023 only one Fireflies hitter finished the season with 55 or more RBI: Brett Squires, who had 69 RBI. 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.
THE RACE INTENSIFIES: Tuesday, the Fireflies split a doubleheader and Charleston beat the Fayetteville Woodpeckers to distance themselves by an extra half-game in the standings. Columbia currently sits 3.5 games behind Charleston and 2.5 games in front of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in second in the division. As Kannapolis continues their second-half slide after their first-half division crown, the Fireflies have the best record in the South Division for the entire season. Columbia has the best overall record in the division by 1.0 game.
AWESOME ARRONDE: Thursday, Felix Arronde struck out five over a handful of innings as he got the loss vs Fredericksburg. The righty leads the Fireflies with 97 punchouts on the season. His 97 strikeouts are tied for the third-most in a single-season for the Fireflies since 2020 with Luinder Avila, who punched out 97 in 2022. Both Adrian Alcantara (2021) and Shane Panzini (2023) are tied with 98 strikeouts for the most in a single year since the schedule was shortened to 132 games.
MITCHELL'S MISSILES: Tuesday, Blake Mitchell blasted his Carolina League leading 18th homer of the season. Mitchell is the first Fireflies player to lead the league in homers since Juan Carlos Negret slapped 23 homers in a pandemic-shortened 2021 season. Mitchell is just one round-tripper shy of Ariel Almonte, who plays for the Daytona Tortugas, for the most round trippers in Single-A in 2024.
YOU GOT MOSSED: Callan Moss is riding his longest hitting streak of his professional career for the Fireflies. Moss went 2-3 Tuesday to extend his stretch to a seven-game mark. On the run, he is 9-22(.409) with a homer and five RBI and thanks to six walks over the stretch, he has recorded a .536 on-base percentage since August 15.
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Carolina League Stories from August 28, 2024
- RiverDogs Shake Early Deficit, Double up Woodpeckers 8-4 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Delmarva Unable to Get Bats Going in Defeat - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Ochoa Homers as Fayetteville Falls for Sixth Straight Game - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Brethower and Schlaffer Shine on Wednesday Night - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Kannapolis Bullpen Steers the Way in Series-Evening Win Over FredNats - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Mudcats Start Fast in Win at Lynchburg - Carolina Mudcats
- Mudcats Fall to Hillcats, 7-3 - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Fireflies Take Pitchers' Duel over GreenJackets 3-0 - Augusta GreenJackets
- Arronde Sets Tone for Fireflies 8th Shutout of 2024 - Columbia Fireflies
- Nats Held Down in 5-1 Loss - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta 8.28 - Columbia Fireflies
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