Columbia Fireflies Game Notes July 14 at Down East
July 14, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Down East Wood Ducks tonight at 7 pm at Grainger Stadium. RHP Luinder Avila (5-6, 4.76 ERA) takes the bump for Columbia and Down East sends righty Ryan Garcia (0-0, 1.76 ERA) to the slab.
Columbia returns home for a weekend series vs the Augusta GreenJackets following the All-Star break July 22-24. July 23, the Fireflies will host A Night Under the Big Top, where Segra Park will bring the circus to town. The night will be capped off following the game when a man will be shot out of a cannon on the field! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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THREE HOMERS LEAD FIREFLIES BACK TO WIN COLUMN: The Fireflies used three homers to edge ahead of the Down East Wood Ducks 7-4in a day game at Grainger Stadium Wednesday afternoon. Jaswel De Los Santos got things rolling in his first start since returning from Arizona. The outfielder smashed Columbia's third lead-off homer of the 2022 campaign to push Columbia in front 1-0. Next, it was a two-run homer from River Town. The blast was his team-leading 11th homer of the season, which pushed Columbia in front 4-2 in the top of the sixth. Carter Jensen lifted the Fireflies in front for good with his 10th round-tripper of the season, a three-run shot that put Columbia in front 7-4. Columbia also scored a run in the first when Town grounded out to plate Omar Hernandez, which put the Fireflies in front 2-0.
MAKING MY WAY DOWN TOWN: Fireflies outfielder River Town is on a roll. When he homered in the sixth inning of Wednesday's game, Town reached base safely in his 27th-consecutive game, which is the longest active streak in Class-A baseball. He owns the fifth-longest active streak in Minor League Baseball. Colson Montgomery has reached safely in 47 games dating back to April 24 and owns the longest streak. The longest on-base streak in A-ball this season belonged to Denzel Clarke of the Stockton Ports. The outfielder reached safely in 37 games from April 14-June 11. The longest franchise on-base streak belongs to Jeremy Vasquez who reached safely in 28-consecutive games from April 5-May 6, 2018.
AMAZING AVILA: Righty Luinder Avila is the only qualifying pitcher for the Columbia Fireflies this season. Last week, after working six innings without allowing an earned run and punching out nine GreenJackets hitters, he earned Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors. He continued his hot stretch yesterday, spinning five frames and allowing a single earned run. It was enough to earn his fifth win of the season as the Fireflies beat Myrtle Beach 5-3. In Avila's last three starts, dating back to June 25, he has tallied 17 innings while only allowing two earned runs (1.06 ERA). During the run, he has punched out 15 hitters while walking only a pair.
STARTING STUDS: A big reason the Fireflies have had the success they have had in the second half is because the starting pitching has really stepped up their game. In the second half, starters have a 2.93 ERA across 70.2 innings. In the first half, the rotation surrendered a 4.85 ERA in 226 innings at the helm. The bullpen has a 5.97 ERA in the second half so far.
JENSEN'S JULY: No Fireflies hitter has been hotter than Carter Jensen during the month of July. The backstop has 14 hits in his last 33 at-bats, and he has walked an additional 12 times. He is slashing .424/.553/.697 during the 11-game stretch and has amassed three doubles and two homers to help him drive in 10 RBI for Columbia. He has also scored 11 runs in his last 11 games played.
NEW YEAR, NEW ME: The second half of the season started last Thursday, which reset each team's record to 0-0. The Fireflies finished the first half (66 games) 28 games back of Myrtle Beach, who had the best record in Minor League Baseball. After starting the second-half 11-5, the Fireflies are tied with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers for first place and possess a magic number of 49 to clinch the first playoff berth in franchise history.
Carolina League Stories from July 14, 2022
- Birds Get Revenge in Game 3, Taking Down the Woodpeckers 11-4 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- AJ Smith-Shawver Headlines an Excellent Display of Pitching - Augusta GreenJackets
- 'Birds Walked-Off After Coming Back from Five Runs Down - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Town Ties Franchise Record in Extras Loss - Columbia Fireflies
- For Second Straight Night, Hillcats Need Eighth Inning Heroics to Lift Them to 5-3 Victory Over Riverdogs - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Eighth Inning Frustrations Continue as Lynchburg Earns Another Comeback Win - Charleston RiverDogs
- FredNats Lose 2nd Straight in Augusta Despite Strong Start From Denaburg - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Fan Fest and Fireworks New for 2022 - Augusta GreenJackets
- RHP Ryan Middendorf Added from ACL Brewers Blue - Carolina Mudcats
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes July 14 at Down East - Columbia Fireflies
- Salem Split Double Header against Kannapolis - Salem Red Sox
- Woodpeckers Rally in Seventh for Second Straight Road Win - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
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