Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Kannapolis 6.28
Published on June 28, 2026 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies close out their series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers this afternoon at Atrium Health Ballpark at 1:30. LHP Darwin Rodriguez (3-4, 4.35 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Kannapolis counters with RHP Gabe Tanner (0-1, 4.00 ERA).
The Fireflies return home for 12 games in 13 days from June 30-July 12. The team will celebrate America's 250th birthday with the biggest fireworks show of the year, Saturday, July 4 and will continue with fireworks and a patriotic theme all weekend thanks to SC 250. The next weekend, the club is throwing it back to the 90s for the return of the Capital City Bombers thanks to Cassell Brothers Home Services. Join the team for a bobble plane giveaway Friday, July 10 and a drone show Saturday, July 11. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.
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NINTH INNING RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 4-1 LOSS: The Fireflies bats rallied late, but came up short after leaving the bases loaded in the ninth. Columbia fell 4-1 to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Saturday night at Atrium Health Ballpark. Hyungchan Um started the ninth with a walk and then Yandel Ricardo and Angel Ramirez hit singles to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run to the plate with one out. After that, Marco Barrios (S, 5) struck out Jhosmmel Zue and Ivan Sosa to close out the game. The Cannon Ballers took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jaden Fauske started the rally with a one out single off Dash Albus (L, 2-2) before Matthew Boughton pulled his fourth homer of the season to left field to give Kannapolis a 3-1 advantage. Kannapolis tacked a run on in the eighth against Jhon Reyes to give them the insurance they needed to close out the game.
STERLING STARTERS: The Fireflies starting rotation has the second-best ERA in Minor League Baseball this season. The group has recorded a 15-14 record combined with a 3.27 ERA over 321.2 innings through the first 74 games of the season. Fireflies starters have 323 strikeouts and have held opponents to a .236 AVG on the season. The Fredericksburg Nationals lead the way with a 3.26 ERA through their first 74 games. As a whole, the Fireflies staff has the fifth-best ERA in Minor League Baseball at 3.98.
LUMINOUS LOMBARDI: Michael Lombardi has been a master of the strikeout this season. Saturday, he etched five strikeouts across 4.1 innings of work. Lombardi is tied for the most strikeouts (86) in Single-A over 55.1 innings of work. Palm Beach's Cade Crossland is the other pitcher with 86. Lombardi has the third-best K/9 rate in Minor League Baseball among pitchers with at least 55 innings this season (13.99). Seth Hernandez leads the way at 14.44. Lombardi's K% is fourth among the same group (36.3%), trailing first place Kade Anderson (41.4%).
HIP HIP, JOSE: Friday, Jose Gutierrez worked 6.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts at Kannapolis. It was his fourth quality start in five starts this month. During June, Gutierrez is 4-0 with a 1.65 ERA. He has 26 strikeouts and only two walks across 27.1 innings to combine with a 0.77 WHIP. Gutierrez leads the Carolina League in IP, has the third-most strikeouts, has the second-best WHIP among those with 15 or more innings of work, has tallied the fourth-best K:BB rate (13.00) and has the fifth-best ERA of those with at least 15 innings of work this month.
MULTI-HIT HAMMOND: After a 4-4 effort Thursday, Josh Hammond homered in the first inning and singled in the second frame Friday to hit safely in six-consecutive plate appearances. That ties a Fireflies franchise record and is the fourth time the feat has been accomplished. Lizandro Rodriguez was the last Fireflies player to accomplish the feat from August 8-10, 2023. Chase Chambers and Raphael Gladu were the other two to hit in six-straight at-bats. Saturday, Hammond added another pair of hits, making it three-consecutive games with multiple hits for the infielder. It's Hammond's second-longest multi-hit streak of the season, he tallied four consecutive earlier in the month from June 7-11 where he went 9-21 on the stretch.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: Today is the final day of a 12-game road trip. Columbia is 20-24 in their first 44 games away from home this year, compared to 18-12 at home. The Fireflies will play their next 12 at Segra Park and 18 of their next 21 games will be played in front of the home crowd.
Carolina League Stories from June 28, 2026
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- 'Dads Win Streak Comes to an End with 9-4 Loss - Hickory Crawdads
- Big Innings Guide Wilson to Sunday Victory - Wilson Warbirds
- Fireflies Fall 4-1, Win Road Series at Kannapolis - Columbia Fireflies
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Kannapolis 6.28 - Columbia Fireflies
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