Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Charleston
June 9, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
Tonight, the Fireflies continue their series with the Charleston RiverDogs at 7:05 pm at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark. RHP Adrian Alcantara (2-2, 3.66 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Charleston sends RHP Cole Wilcox (1-0, 1.67 ERA) to the bump.
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COLUMBIA OFFENSE STIFLED IN 3-1 SERIES OPENING LOSS: The Fireflies bats couldn't find their stride, notching only two hits in the series opener against the Charleston RiverDogs Tuesday night at Joseph P. Riley Ballpark. Columbia's lone run came in the third inning. Omar Hernandez led off the frame with a walk and following a two-out wild pitch from RiverDogs' starter Jose Lopez and a base knock from Tyler Tolbert, the backstop rolled around to cut Charleston's lead to 2-1. Fireflies starter, Rylan Kaufman (L, 1-2) had a shortened outing with lots of traffic on the base paths. The southpaw allowed three hits and three walks, but held Charleston to only two runs, one earned. The earned run scored when Luis Leon grounded into a 5-3 double play in the second that scored Nick Schnell from third.
MAGIC NUMBER: The offense has come in spurts for the Columbia Fireflies in 2021, but the magic number for the team is four. When the Fireflies score four runs in a game, they are 18-2 this season. When Columbia scores three or less in a game, they are 0-10.
SCHMIDT'S STRIKEOUTS: Matt Schmidt is going through a tough stretch at the plate, the first baseman is in an 0-23 skid and has 13 strikeouts in his last 13 at-bats dating back to May 29 vs Augusta.
EVERYONE WANTS TO BE APART OF A TURNAROUND: After giving up a run in two innings of relief work at Augusta May 8, it looked like righty Nathan Webb would have another season similar to his previous four years in Minor League Baseball. The Missouri-native has a 5.86 career ERA. Since then, the righty has spun nine scoreless innings and has fanned 19 batters while allowing only three hits. His opposing batting average has dropped from .231 to .159 and his season WHIP is now an incredible 1.00.
POWER OUTAGE: The Fireflies offense has been sputtering along, scoring two runs or less in three of their four games dating back to June 2. After winning their contest with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans June 2, June 3 and June 4's games were affected by weather, June 5 they had a doubleheader and June 6's game was postponed due to rain. This season when Columbia scores three runs or less, they are 0-10.
BRIGHT BACKSTOP: 19-year-old catcher Omar Hernandez got off to a slow start this season. Through his first seven games, he was hitting .192 and had only five hits in 26 at-bats. The backstop has been exploding in a limited time in the month of June though. While he has only played four games, the Cuban is hitting .417 and has reached base safely 50% of the time he has come up to the plate. Since May 15, Hernandez has hit safely in 11 of 12 games, including each of his last seven games. He has tallied three multiple-hit games during the stretch and is hitting .304 with three 2B, one 3B, one HR and seven RBI.
MARQUIS MARQUEZ: Fireflies lefty Emilio Marquez started the season in the rotation, but has since found his home in the bullpen where the 5'8" pitcher has found his stride. The southpaw has worked 11.1 consecutive scoreless innings since he allowed a pair of runs in a May 14 showcase against the Charleston RiverDogs. Since his scoreless stretch strarted, his ERA has dropped from 4.50 to 1.86 and his WHIP has decreased from 1.38 to 0.98.
Carolina League Stories from June 9, 2021
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