Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta
Published on September 8, 2021 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies will try to rebound against the Augusta GreenJackets tonight at SRP Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Adrian Alcantara (5-8, 5.28 ERA) climbs the bump for Columbia and Augusta counters with RHP Ryan Cusick (0-1, 4.15 ERA).
Columbia has one homestand remaining in the 2021 campaign from August 14-19. There's plenty of fun in store, including a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday, White Claw Wednesday Day and Bud Light Thirsty Thursday. In addition to the drink specials, the Fireflies will pull out all the stops for their promotions, hosting Grateful Dead Night Friday and Wands and Wizards Night Saturday. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES AVOID NO-NO WITH 7TH INNING SINGLE: It took the Fireflies until the seventh to get their first hit and they were unable to dig out of an early hole their pitching staff put them into in a 7-1 loss to Augusta Tuesday night at SRP Park. Rylan Kaufman (L, 2-5) struggled for the Fireflies (47-61), only obtaining six outs in the start, but allowing half a dozen runs to score by the time he was lifted in the third inning. Augusta scored all four of their runs in the first on a one out grand slam from Willie Carter. In the third, Kaufman gave up a pair of walks before getting lifted. Anthony Simonelli fanned the first two batters he faced, but couldn't strand the runners on the basepaths, as he eventually gave up three runs in the frame to increase Augusta's (46-53) lead to 7-0. After Herard Gonzalez reached base safely on a two out throwing error, Burl Dixon popped a single into shallow left to break up the combined no-hitter and the shutout with one stroke of the bat. The rally stopped there as Columbia couldn't score in the eighth or ninth.
LUCKY NUMBER 7?: The Fireflies have lost seven consecutive games and 11 of their last 13. Of those 11 losses, Columbia has only been within three in three games. They'll try to reverse their fortune tonight against Augusta as they throw Adrian Alcantara, who has a 3.18 ERA on the road this year.
NAIL BITER: Through the first 122 games of the Fireflies and GreenJackets all-time series, both teams have claimed 122 games. The season series has five more games remaining, so one team will head to the offseason with a series lead.
KIPP, KIPP HOORAY!: To close out the series against the RiverDogs, Brooks Conrad went to righty reliever Kipp Rollings first out of the pen. The South Carolina-native came in with a runner on first and one out, and induced an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play against the first batter he faced. Rollings would go on to work three more innings in relief, not allowing a run and inducing one more double play. The key to the reliever's success was pushing soft contact from hitters. Rollings forced 7 groundouts and allowed no air outs in his 3.2 innings of relief work. The outing lowered the righty's ERA to 4.73 while in Columbia and provided the longest scoreless inning stretch from the bullpen in the series against Charleston.
CHALLENGING LEAGUE TOP MARKS: Fireflies outfielder Juan Carlos Negret has established himself as an all-or-nothing hitter during the 2021 campaign. The slugger leads the Low-A East League with 22 homers, which is the most in a single season in Fireflies history. He trails just Dash Winningham, who hit 25 homers between the 2016 and 2017 campaigns for the most all-time homers in Fireflies history. Negret has also done an excellent job at producing RBI this season. Despite having a sub-.200 batting average, Negret has driven in 74 RBI, which is good for the second-best in the league in the 2021 campaign. He only trails Charleston's Diego Infante, who has sent home 77 RBI for the RiverDogs this season.
GOOD START FROM GUERRERO: Starting pitchers have been abused by the RiverDogs in this series, but in his Low-A East debut, Tyson Guerrero was able to work through 2.2 scoreless innings. While Columbia wasn't able to win the game, the start was enough to allow the Fireflies to jump out to a 3-0 lead, which amounted to their first lead of the series.
Carolina League Stories from September 8, 2021
- Late Rally Falls Short in Loss to Carolina - Down East Wood Ducks
- Connor Norby Homers as 'Birds Drop Second Straight to FredNats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Barley Laps Shorebirds, Leads FredNats to 5-3 Win - Fredericksburg Nationals
- RiverDogs-Pelicans Postponed on Wednesday Night - Charleston RiverDogs
- Jackets Postponed, to Play Doubleheader Thursday, September 9th - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Washed Away for Wednesday Contest - Columbia Fireflies
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - at Carolina - Down East Wood Ducks
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Mudcats Allow Franchise Record 23 Hits in 17-5 Loss - Carolina Mudcats
- Kannapolis Stumbles in Seventh Inning, Fall to Woodpeckers 9-1 Tuesday - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
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