Columbia Fireflies Game Notes July 27 at Kannapolis
July 27, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers today at Noon at Atrium Health Ballpark. RHP Shane Panzini (0-2, 3.73 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and RHP Kohl Simas (2-1, 2.49 ERA) gets the nod for Kannapolis.
Columbia returns home to Segra Park August 2-7 to play the Charleston RiverDogs. You'll want to get to the game early August 5, as the Fireflies are giving out a lunchbox to the first 1,000 fans through the gates on Back to School Night, presented by Webster University. We'll also be hosting Nickelodeon PAW Patrol Night presented by SC DSS August 6 that'll include appearances from Chase and Marshall! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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SIX WALKS MARK DIFFERENCE IN FIREFLIES LOSS: The Fireflies pitching staff walked six batters and three came around to score as Columbia dropped the opener to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5-4 Tuesday evening at Atrium Health Ballpark. The Cannon Ballers now own a 1.5 game lead in the South Division standings. The difference came in the first inning. Starter Ben Hernandez (L, 1-5) only lasted 0.2 innings, walking three batters and allowing three additional hits as Kannapolis ushered in four runs before Shane Connolly swept up the final out to strand a pair of inherited runners. In the third inning, Wander Arias walked Misael Gonzalez with the bases loaded to plate Benyamin Bailey to push the Cannon Ballers (16-9) lead to 5-1. Columbia (14-10) started their scoring in the top of the second inning when Erick Peña smashed his eighth homer of the season 412' to right field to cut into Kannapolis's lead.
MAKING MY WAY DOWN TOWN: Fireflies outfielder River Town's franchise-record on-base streak ended in Tuesday's game vs the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers as he finished the day 0-4. He owned the third-longest active streak in Minor League Baseball. Vaughn Grissom has reached safely in 45 games dating back to May 27 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. Town now owns the Fireflies franchise record on-base streak. He passed Jeremy Vasquez who had a 28-game mark in 2018. During Town's 33-game stretch, which lasted from June 9-July 23, he slashed .283/.451/.528 with seven homers and 23 RBI.
POSITIVE STRIDES IN THE PEN: Righties Shane Connolly and Luis Barroso have found their grooves in the month of July in the bullpen. The two have combined to allow just one earned run in 11.1 innings across the month. Connolly's ERA has dipped from 9.67 after his outing vs Carolina June 18 to 7.67 following his 1.1 innings yesterday. For Barroso, he's seen his ERA drop from 7.54 after his loss to Charleston June 23 to 5.19 after a pair of scoreless frames yesterday.
HERNANDEZ HEATING UP: Backstop Omar Hernandez's bat has been heating up the last 10 games. During the run, which began July 4, Columbia's catcher has seen his batting average rise from .205 to .217 and he has had three of his five multi-hit games on the season. Hernandez has gone 1-4 with a pair of RBI in each of his last two games. He has seven of the 15 RBI he has hit on the season in his last 10 games (he has played 59 games this season).
THE CHASE: After having at least a share of the division lead for 19 of the first 20 games of the second half, Columbia finds themselves 1.5 games back of Kannapolis in the standings after canceling their game Sunday and losing by one Tuesday while Kannapolis was able to win both of those games. The division is battling closely behind Columbia and Kannapolis too as Charleston sits one game behind the Fireflies (2.5 back of first) and Myrtle Beach is 1.5 back of Columbia (3.0 games out of first).
RALLY FIREFLIES: Columbia is outscoring opponents in only one inning this season, but it's an important one: the ninth. In the final frame of regulation, Columbia is outscoring opponents 34-27 this season. That really helps in late and close situations, and after scoring three runs in the seventh and eighth last night, Columbia is 14-11 in 25 one-run games throughout the 2022 season.
Carolina League Stories from July 27, 2022
- Three Home Runs Lift Myrtle Beach to 10-5 Win over Augusta - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- GreenJackets Fall in Game Two against the Pelicans - Augusta GreenJackets
- Carolina Wins Fourth Straight, 7-5 in Fayetteville - Carolina Mudcats
- Down East Turns Tables on RiverDogs with 10-3 Win - Charleston RiverDogs
- Salem Takes Two From Fredericksburg on Wednesday Night - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Narrow Win Evens Hillcats' Record - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Isaac De Leon's Three Extra Base Hits Not Enough in 'Birds 4-3 Loss to Hillcats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Offense from Columbia Proves to be Too Much for Kannapolis in 8-3 Loss Wednesday - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Peña Blast Helps Fireflies Even up Series - Columbia Fireflies
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes July 27 at Kannapolis - Columbia Fireflies
- Polanco's Early RBI Triple Gives Cannon Ballers Early Lead in 5-4 Win over Fireflies - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
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