Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Myrtle Beach
August 25, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Columbia Fireflies continue their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at 7:05 pm tonight at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. RHP Anderson Paulino (6-5, 4.79 ERA) gets the nod for the Fireflies while RHP Tyler Schlaffer (1-3, 4.37 ERA) will go for the Pelicans.
The Fireflies return home to Segra Park for a six-game homestand with the Charleston RiverDogs August 31. It all starts with a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday where hot dogs, popcorn, fountain soda and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite are all only $2. You can purchase tickets at FirefliesTickets.com.
---
FIREFLIES CAN'T GET KEY HIT EARLY, FALL 6-1 IN OPENER: The Fireflies couldn't crack the mysterious code that has been the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, dropping their ninth consecutive game to the Pelicans, this one 6-1 Tuesday night at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. The Pelicans (48-49) scored all of their runs in the second inning. After starter Heribert Garcia (L, 0-2) retired the first two batters he faced in the inning, he walked Peter Matt prior to an Ethan Hearn double that scored Matt and broke the scoreless tie. The next batter, Ed Howard, smashed a two-run homer to left to make the Fireflies (45-52) deficit 3-0. The Fireflies tried to claw back in the fourth with a two out rally of their own. Gage Hughes and Diego Hernandez laced back-to-back tow out triples to draw Columbia within a pair, but it wasn't enough. Richard Gallardo (W, 3-8) worked in and out of trouble multiple times in his four-inning stint, but only surrendered a single run in four innings while striking out six.
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 21 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 67 RBI, which is good for the second most in the league in the 2021 campaign. He trails only Charleston's Diego Infante, who has sent home 69 RBI for the 67-29 RiverDogs this season.
WILY WALLACE: Righty reliever Chase Wallace has turned around his season in the month of August. After recording a season-worst 10.24 ERA throughout 9.2 innings in July, the Tennessee-native has already worked 12 innings in August and has allowed only a pair of earned runs. Limiting opponents to a .196 average, Wallace has maintained a 1.50 ERA in the month of August.
SAVING GRACE: After a tough start to the season, Zack Phillips has turned things around in his last few outings with the Fireflies. He has now only allowed one earned run in his last 13.1 innings (0.68 ERA) to drop his season ERA to 2.05. He began July giving up five runs in four innings. Phillips started the season in Quad Cities where he had a 7.2 inning scoreless streak before he was sent to Columbia.
HEY, IT'S FRANKLIN: A.J. Franklin spun three scoreless frames Saturday, bringing his tally to 5.2 scoreless innings while donning a Fireflies uniform. It hasn't always been clean for the Vanderbilt-product, who has a 1.59 WHIP with the Fireflies so far. He has walked seven batters and allowed a pair of his in his four outings with Columbia, but he has been able to work around trouble to keep runs from scoring in each of his outings so far.
SUNDAY SCARIES: The Columbia Fireflies are 5-8 on Sundays this season. The .385 winning percentage is by far the worst mark for the Fireflies on any day of the week. Columbia is actually above .500 on Tuesdays and Thursdays this season. The team holds a 7-6 record on Tuesdays and a 10-8 record on Thursdays this season. Columbia would have to win each of their remaining Sunday games to finish the year with a .500 record to start the week.
Carolina League Stories from August 25, 2021
- Wood Ducks Win in Extras against Fayetteville - Down East Wood Ducks
- RiverDogs Fire on All Cylinders in 9-1 Win - Charleston RiverDogs
- Binelas Blasts Big Fly in Streak Snapping 4-3 Loss - Carolina Mudcats
- Trio of Newcomers Leads FredNats to 4-3 Win - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Early Errors Sink Fireflies in 8-3 Loss to Pelicans - Columbia Fireflies
- RiverDogs Win 9-1 to Snap Jackets Home Winning Streak - Augusta GreenJackets
- Seven-Run Seventh Sinks 'Birds against Red Sox - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Down East Wood Ducks Number Change and Game Notes - vs. Fayetteville - Down East Wood Ducks
- Delmarva's Late Offensive Surge Pushes Shorebirds Past Red Sox - Salem Red Sox
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Myrtle Beach - Columbia Fireflies
- Streaking 'Cats Win Seventh Straight 11-2 in Fredericksburg - Carolina Mudcats
- Rodriguez Dominates in Relief, Pelicans Earn Series-Opening Win over Fireflies - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
