Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta
September 9, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Columbia Fireflies will play a twin bill at SRP Park against the Augusta GreenJackets beginning at 5:05 pm tonight. RHP Adrian Alcantara (5-8, 5.28 ERA) gets the ball in game one and the Fireflies will send RHP Luinder Avila (2-2, 4.67 ERA) to the hill in game two. Charleston will counter with RHP Ryan Cusick (0-1, 4.15 ERA) in the first game and RHP Andrew Hoffman (0-2, 4.58 ERA) in the second game.
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 9, 2021
- Jackets Complete Doubleheader Sweep with Shutout - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Swept by GreenJackets in Twin Bill - Columbia Fireflies
- RiverDogs Win 12-1, Secure Home Field Advantage for Championship Series - Charleston RiverDogs
- 'Birds Keep Playoff Hopes Alive with Crucial Win over FredNats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Lara Debuts in 6-2 Loss to Shorebirds - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Krogman's Late-Inning Homer Pushes Ballers over Woodpeckers - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Pelicans Fall to RiverDogs in First Game, Second Game Postponed - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Wood Ducks and Mudcats Postponed - Down East Wood Ducks
- Mudcats and Wood Ducks Postponed in Zebulon - Carolina Mudcats
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - at Carolina - Down East Wood Ducks
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Carolina Rallies for Series Tying 8-6 Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Ninth Inning Struggles Lead to 5-3 Loss on Wednesday - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
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