Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Myrtle Beach
Published on August 8, 2021 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
Columbia closes out their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tonight at 5:05 pm at Segra Park. LHP Rylan Kaufman (2-3, 4.33 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and RHP Daniel Palencia (0-2, 6.91) ERA makes his first start for the Cubs organization.
We'll continue celebrating Copa weekend tonight at Segra Park and following the game, for the first time in 2021 kids will be able to run the bases! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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LOS CHICHARRONES COMEBACK FALLS SHORT: After falling behind 8-0 after four innings, Los Chicharrones de Columbia didn't give up, they fought back, but their comeback fell short, 10-8 to Los Pelicanos at Segra Park Saturday evening.Anderson Paulino (L, 6-4) fell into a fit of bad luck that forced him to leave prior to the conclusion of the top of the first frame. A pair of errors extended an inning that eventually led to the Pelicans (41-42) scoring six runs, all of which were unearned. Paulino was lifted after facing nine Pelicans. With two outs, Patrick Smith entered the game and struck out Ezequiel Pagan to end the inning. Trailing 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Fireflies mounted an assault on DJ Herz, forcing him to leave the game. The scoring started with a Gage Hughes single to score Saul Garza, but a Jose Marquez double plated Burle Dixon and moved Hughes to third so the two could scamper home on two wild pitches from reliever Jarrod Wright (W, 2-3). The wild pitches cut Myrtle Beach's lead in half, to 8-4.After Chase Wallace spun 3.2 innings of two hit baseball, he handed the ball to Marlin Willis, who worked a scoreless ninth, but gave up a pair in the eighth to put Myrtle Beach in front 10-4. Columbia wasn't done there though. In the eighth, Jean Ramirez and Herard Gonzalez hit back-to-back two baggers with Tyler Tolbert on the base paths to draw the Fireflies back within four. Gonzalez would advance on a wild pitch and score on a ground ball from Garza to fill out the frame with a 10-7 finish.
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.
ONE RUN, NO FUN: The Fireflies have lost three of their last four 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 8, 2021
- RiverDogs Finish Series Sweep of GreenJackets with 8-1 Win - Charleston RiverDogs
- 'Birds Swept by Wood Ducks in Twin Bill - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Pelicans Sweep Fireflies, Win Sunday's Series Finale - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Down East Sweeps Doubleheader with Delmarva - Down East Wood Ducks
- Los Chicharrones Drop Another One-Run Game - Columbia Fireflies
- Carolina Wins Fifth Straight While Blasting Cannon Ballers 13-1 - Carolina Mudcats
- Theophile and Yankosky Combine to Shut out Woodpeckers - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Myrtle Beach - Columbia Fireflies
- Salem Holds off Lynchburg in the Late Innings to Secure the Series Lead - Salem Red Sox
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - at Delmarva - Down East Wood Ducks
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