CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes August 7 vs Charleston

August 7, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Fireflies close out their series with the Charleston RiverDogs this afternoon at 5:05 pm at Segra Park. RHP Shane Panzini (0-2, 4.66 ERA) gets the nod while southpaw Brandon McKay will make his second Major League rehab appearance with Charleston.

It's a Sunday Funday at Segra Park. We'll have a player autograph session until 4:15 pm after gates open and kids can run the bases following the game. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.

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FIREFLIES WIN BIG IN FRONT OF SELL-OUT CROWD: he Fireflies won 8-2 over the Charleston RiverDogs, utilizing strong pitching and a Javier Vaz homer to a sell-out crowd he Fireflies won 8-2 over the Charleston RiverDogs, utilizing strong pitching and a Javier Vaz homer to send the first full capacity sell-out crowd at Segra Park since 2019 home happy Saturday night. Javier Vaz welcomed the 2022 draft class to Columbia in a big way. The Vanderbilt product slammed his first homer, a three-run shot over the right field wall in the fourth inning to raise Columbia's lead to 5-1. home happy Saturday night. The Fireflies jumped out in front in the bottom of the first inning. After Jean Ramirez bunted for a single to lead off the game, Daniel Vazquez hit him to third before Darryl Collins utilized a ground out to bring home the break-even run. The bats weren't finished yet. Javier Vaz reached on an E6 in his first plate appearance for the Fireflies and came around after a Collins' fly out as Columbia took a 2-1 lead.

DANGEROUS DARRYL: Since coming back off the injured list, outfielder Darryl Collins is on a roll. This week he has reached base eight times in 16 plate appearances, including five walks. He has scored four runs and last night was able to tally a pair of RBI in a 1-3 performance.

UNEVEN RIVALRY: The Fireflies have struggled with their in-state neighbors to the east this season, as Columbia has accumulated a 6-11 record in 2022 against the RiverDogs. The problem dates further back though. Columbia is 18-33 vs the RiverDogs since they switched affiliation from the New York Yankees to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Fireflies have taken 53 games in the 134 game all-time series vs Charleston.

SECOND-HALF FIREFLIES?: After trudging to the finish line of the first-half of the season with a Carolina League-worst 18-48 record, the Fireflies burst onto the scene in the second-half, sweeping Augusta after taking two of the first three games with the RiverDogs to begin the second slate 8-1. Since then, the Fireflies have a 10-15 record (.375) and are three games back of first place.

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 four of their first five 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.

WORKING TOWARDS THE WEEKEND: Columbia has struggled on non-traditional work days in 2022. Friday nights, the Fireflies are 6-12, they're 8-12 Saturday and 6-9 in Sunday contests this season. Overall, that's a 20-33 record (.378). The Fireflies have 16 more weekend games this season to try to change the stigma.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics



Carolina League Stories from August 7, 2022


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