CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Fayetteville

August 13, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Fireflies continue their series with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers tonight at 7:05 pm. RHP Anderson Paulino (6-4, 5.42 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Fayetteville chooses righty Elian Rodriguez (1-1, 5.40 ERA) to start the game.

Tonight is The 13th in the Upside Down at Segra Park. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free Stranger Things-themed t-shirt as gates open at 6 pm. In addition to that, Carolina Game Labs will have pinball machines behind the Budweiser Bow Tie Bar while the Fireflies provide plenty of spooky entertainment.

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COLUMBIA WALLOPS WOODPECKERS 15-4: Columbia scored 15 runs for the second time in the series and added at least one run in each of the first seven innings, beating Fayetteville 15-4 Thursday evening at Segra Park.After Matt Stil gave up three in the top of the first inning, the Fireflies (41-45) bats got to work, scoring three in the first after a pair of errors kept the inning alive. In the second Burle Dixon laced a triple down the right field line to score Jean Ramirez to put the Fireflies in front of Fayettevile (37-49) 4-3. The Woodpeckers tied it for a final time in the top of the third before Emilio Marquez (W, 6-1) took the ball for four scoreless innings and A.J. Franklin closed the door with a scoreless ninth. The Fireflies bats stayed active though. Heitor Tokar (L, 0-1) left the game after Felix Familia, Enrique Valdez and Matt Schmidt tallied RBI hits in the third to put the Fireflies up 7-4. Familia would finish the game 3-5 with a double and three RBI.

GARZA'S GANG: Since coming to Columbia, Saul Garza has been absolutely electric while being plugged into the heart of the Fireflies order. In his first 19 games, Garza is hitting .273 and has two homers and 15 RBI. The first baseman has been even better during his recent seven-game hitting streak. He is 10-26 (.385), has launched a homer and a double and has driven in eight RBI.

MARQUEE MARQUEZ: Columbia's left-handed pitcher, Emilio Marquez, has been one of the top pitchers in the Low-A East League, and has certainly been the most consistent arm for the Fireflies in 2021. The southpaw has tallied the sixth-most strikeouts in the league (83) in only 59 innings, and has a 0.83 WHIP, which would be lowest amongst qualifying pitchers in the League. Marquez is 10 innings shy of being a qualifying pitcher for the Columbia Fireflies. If he catches up to the mark, he will also have the lowest ERA in the Low-A East League. As it stands, that honor belongs to Joey Estes who has a 2.77 ERA this season.

KILLING THEM WITH SPEED: Tyler Tolbert has been crushing the Fayetteville Woodpeckers during this series. Last night's shortstop has reached base safely nine times in 16 plate appearances (.563) and has a double, a triple and a grand slam on his way to eight RBI in three games against the Woodpeckers. Tolbert has been on a special streak since July 30, reaching safely in 10 consecutive games. During that time, the speedster owns a .417 on-base percentage, has walked nine times and has five stolen bases. The Mississippi-native has 13 RBI and a pair of homers and triples across that 10-game stretch.

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.

ONE RUN, NO FUN: The Fireflies have lost four of their last six games by the slimmest margin possible, which brings their 2021 record to 6-17 in one-run contests. The Fireflies have particularly struggled in close games in the last month. Since the start of July, the Fireflies are 2-12 in one-run games.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics



Carolina League Stories from August 13, 2021


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