Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Myrtle Beach
Published on August 7, 2021 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
Los Chicharrones de Columbia continue their series with Los Pelicanos de Myrtle Beach tonight at 6:35 pm at Segra Park. RHP Anderson Paulino (6-3, 4.57 ERA) gets the ball for Columbia and LHP DJ Herz (2-4, 3.56 ERA) starts for Myrtle Beach.
Copa weekend continues at Segra Park tonight. Los Chicharrones will wear their specialty red jerseys and we'll have fun games and songs that celebrate LatinX culture all evening long. We'll cap off the evening with a fireworks show provided by Munnerlyn Pyrotechnics.
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LOS CHICHARRONES LOSE THIRD STRAIGHT BY ONE RUN: Los Chicharrones de Columbia came close again at Segra Park Friday night, leading 2-0 over Los Pelicanos de Myrtle Beach after six innings, but falling in 10 frames 3-2.The Fireflies started off the game with an excellent start from Matt Stil, who spun four scoreless before handing the ball to Emilio Marquez. Marquez labored through four innings and allowed a pair of runs to score in the seventh and eighth that led to Myrtle Beach (40-42) tying the game before Marquez was lifted for Zach Phillips (L, 0-3). Phillips was on the mound for the 10th and final frame. The lefty forced a groundout which moved Luis Verdugo, the inherited runner at second, 90 feet away from scoring with one out. After fanning Kevin Made, Phillips gave up a single sliced between short and third to put Los Pelicanos in front 3-2.Los Chicharrones (38-43) were unable to score Gage Hughes, who pinch ran for Matt Schmidt in extras.
HITTING HIS STRIDE: Kale Emshoff has been on an absolute tear over the course of the last week. In his last five games, he is 12-19 (.632) with two homers, six runs scored and four RBI. During the abbreviated stint, Columbia's backstop has a 1.647 OPS in 22 plate appearances.
REBOUNDING WITH STYLE: Last week, starter Anderson Paulino rebounded from his worst start of the season against Myrtle Beach. The righty allowed nine runs and 11 hits in the outing, both of which are season highs in that start on the road. He returned to Segra Park with a career-high seven strikeouts in five two-hit innings where Paulino did not allow a run to score. He kept the trend going with six no-hit innings in relief to start off the doubleheader Tuesday afternoon. He's now allowed seven hits in his last 9.2 innings on the bump.
ONE RUN, NO FUN: The Fireflies have lost three consecutive games by the slimmest margin possible, which brings their 2021 record to 6-16 in one-run contests. The Fireflies have particularly struggled in close games in the last month. Since the start of July, the Fireflies are 2-11 in one-run games.
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 10 innings (0.90 ERA) to drop his season ERA to 2.41. 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.'
PICK UP STICKS: During this homestand, the Fireflies are hitting .186 (24-129) and are only 4-26 (.154) with runners threatening. Of the four hits, two belong to Tyler Tolbert, who has tripled and singled to score Diego Hernandez during this series. The other two hits with runners in scoring position belong to Rubendy Jaquez and Saul Garza.
OFFENSE WINS GAMES: It may seem simple, if you score a lot of runs, you will win a lot of games, but after last night, the Fireflies have fallen to 3-30 when they are held to three runs or less. The correlation of scoring seems to be stronger than good pitching is to winning for Columbia as the team is now just 23-13 when they hold their opponent to three runs or less.
Carolina League Stories from August 7, 2021
- Los Chicharrones Comeback Falls Short - Columbia Fireflies
- Wiemer Hits Another Walk-Off as Carolina Wins Fourth Straight - Carolina Mudcats
- Pelicans Outlast Fireflies for Fifth Straight Win - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Infante's Big Play Helps RiverDogs Hold off Augusta 4-2 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Chu's Start Squandered in 6-4 Loss - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Wood Ducks and Shorebirds Postponed - Down East Wood Ducks
- August 7th 'Birds and Wood Ducks Game Postponed - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - at Delmarva - Down East Wood Ducks
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Myrtle Beach - Columbia Fireflies
- Red Sox Bullpen Woes Strike Again in Salem's 8-4 Loss - Salem RidgeYaks
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