Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta
September 11, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Augusta GreenJackets today at 6:05 pm at SRP Park. Righty Wander Arias (0-1, 8.31 ERA) gets the nod for the Fireflies and Augusta will go with RHP Rainiery Rodriguez (2-3, 6.69 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 LOSE 11-1 IN 10th STRAIGHT DEFEAT: The Fireflies spoiled a wonderful opportunity at the plate in the first inning and weren't able to force a second chance as they fell 11-1 to the GreenJackets Friday evening at SRP Park. Diego Hernandez started the inning reaching on a fielding error from Augusta (49-63) shortstop Cal Conley. He stole his 30th base of the season prior to scoring after a passed ball and a wild pitch. Following that, Jared Johnson walked the bases loaded with just one out, but the Fireflies were only able to score the lone run and were unable to scratch a hit to get a large lead. Things didn't fare well for the Fireflies (47-65) after that. Tyson Guerrero (L, 0-1) gave up three runs in the home half of the first, including two on an inside-the-park homer from Landon Stephens. Augusta would cap off the evening with two runs on separate Tyler Tolve hits in the fifth and the seventh as they cruised to victory. The Fireflies offense was held to only three hits in this one and Diego Hernandez had two of them, both singles as Peyton Wilson claimed the third hit, a double and the lone extra-base hit of the ballgame for the Fireflies.
LUCKY NUMBER 7?: The Fireflies have lost 10 consecutive games and 14 of their last 16. Of those 14 losses, Columbia has only been within three in four games. The Fireflies have been outscored 95-30 during their 10-game losing streak.
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.
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.
UP NEXT: Columbia returns home for a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday against Kannapolis after this series in Augusta.
Carolina League Stories from September 11, 2021
- 'Birds Explode for Six-Run Fourth to Overcome FredNats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- FredNats Squander Early Lead in 9-7 Loss - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Wood Ducks Pitching Hammered by Carolina - Down East Wood Ducks
- RiverDogs Drop 5-2 Decision in Front of Largest Crowd of Season - Charleston RiverDogs
- Binelas, Perez and Garcia Power Mudcats to 14-10 Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Malloy Homers Twice, Jackets Win Seventh Straight - Augusta GreenJackets
- 11 Straight L's After Heartbreaker in Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes at Carolina - Down East Wood Ducks
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