Columbia Fireflies Game Notes August 5 vs Charleston
August 5, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Charleston RiverDogs tonight at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Ben Kudrna (2-4, 2.66 ERA) gets the nod for the Fireflies and the RiverDogs counter with RHP Ben Peoples (4-4, 3.46 ERA).
Tonight is Back to School Night and Teacher's Appreciation Night presented by Webster University. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free Fireflies jersey lunch box and we will be awarding three local teachers a neon apple award! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FOUR-RUN SECOND SEALS COLUMBIA LOSS: The Fireflies offense wasn't able to scratch the score column, as a fatal second inning sinks their chances in a 4-0 loss to the RiverDogs Thursday night at Segra Park. Charleston (20-12) jumped on top in the second inning. After Frank Mozzicato recorded the first four outs on seven pitches, he issued a walk to Kenny Piper and then allowed back-to-back singles to Oneill Manzueta and Daiwer Castellanos to set the table for the frame. Then with two outs, Alejandro Pie singled to score a pair of runs to break the scoreless tie. Shane Sasaki struck out with two outs, but reached first base on a wild pitch that allowed Castellanos to score. Finally, a wild pitch plated Pie to bring Charleston's lead to 4-0 prior to the end of the inning. Mozzicato (L, 1-5) finished the game with five innings of work for a second-consecutive outing. He fanned four innings and gave up four runs before handing the ball off to Jonatan Bernal, who was electric out of the bullpen. The righty spun four innings and cut down seven RiverDogs while allowing only a trio of base runners.
ONE-TWO PUNCH: In their last three games, Ben Kudrna and Frank Mozzicato have combined to spin 16 innings, while allowing just four runs. Last week in Kannapolis was the first time the two have both claimed a win in one trip through the rotation.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: The Fireflies changed their pace of the season in July, finishing above .500 in a month of games for the first time since May 2021. Columbia was 12-11 across July including the latter-half of a six-game sweep of the Augusta GreenJackets at the start of the month. The smooth sailing hasn't continuing in August as the Fireflies have kicked-off the month dropping their first trio of games.
UPCOMING STRETCH: The Fireflies are in the midst of an important part of their schedule. The top four teams in the South Division are separated by only two games. The Fireflies are playing Charleston at home for the first time this season before visiting the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and then Kannapolis again. That's 18-consecutive games against the top four teams in the division to start the month of August. The Fireflies are currently two games out of first place behind Charleston, 1.5 games behind Kannapolis and a half-game back of Myrtle Beach. Columbia will also close out the season with a six-game set at Segra Park vs the Charleston RiverDogs. The Fireflies magic number to clinch the first playoff berth in franchise history is 35.
WORKING TOWARDS THE WEEKEND: Columbia has struggled on non-traditional work days in 2022. Friday nights, the Fireflies are 6-11, they're 7-12 Saturday and 6-9 in Sunday contests this season. Overall, that's a 19-32 record (.372). The Fireflies have 18 more weekend games this season to try to change the stigma.
ROUGH SLEDDING: After jumping ahead 4-0 in the second inning of Tuesday's game vs the RiverDogs, the Fireflies have been outscored 25-8. The Fireflies have moved from second place in the standings, 0.5 games behind Kannapolis to fourth place and three games behind Charleston.
BLISTERING BERNAL: After being traded from the Blue Jays to the Royals, Jonatan Bernal popped out his best appearance of the season last night, spinning four innings, punching out seven hitters and allowing no runs.
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