Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes 6.14 at Myrtle Beach
June 14, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster.
* 1B Chris Brito has been promoted to the Quad Cities River Bandits active roster
There are no corresponding moves. The Fireflies active roster now sits at 28.
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Columbia continues their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tonight at Pelicans Ballpark at 7:05 pm. RHP Logan Martin (1-0, 3.25 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with RHP Nazier Mule (0-1, 5.40 ERA).
Columbia returns home June 18 to play eight games in six days against the Carolina Mudcats. The Fireflies are kicking out all the stops with Miller Lite $2 Tuesday, Budweiser Thirsty Thursday and our new Friday and Saturday happy hours where fans can enjoy $5 drafts prior to first pitch. Saturday is also Bluey at the Ballpark night, presented by Cassell Brothers Home Services. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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PENA'S CAREER NIGHT LEADS TO 11-INNING WIN: Erick Pena finished a single shy of the cycle as he matched career bests in hits and RBI to propel the Fireflies to a 5-4 win over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Pelicans Ballpark Thursday night. In the 11th, Erick Pena came to the dish with two aboard and lasered a double down the right field line to score Daniel Vazquez and Derlin Figueroa to give Columbia a 5-3 lead. Pena finished the game a single shy of the cycle. It was the outfielder's second-career three-hit game and his third four RBI game of his career Doug Kirkland (W, 2-3) worked a scoreless 10th to keep Columbia in the game and then entered again in the 11th, just allowing the inherited runner to score on a sacrifice fly to keep the lead intact for the Fireflies (32-26).
FIRST-CLASS FIREFLIES: Columbia's pitching staff has been hot over the last week. In the team's last seven games, it is 8-1 with a 1.73 ERA. The club has 68 strikeouts in 83 innings of work while maintaining a 0.99 WHIP and a .198 opposing average. In all of Minor League Baseball (120 teams), The Fireflies have the best ERA and WHIP of all 120 teams and are ranked ninth in opposing batting average. Bowie leads Minor League Baseball with a .174 opposing average during the run. The team's ERA has decreased from 3.83 to 3.49 during the run. The bullpen has been particularly good, working a 3.04 ERA this season. that's the fifth-best bullpen ERA in Minor League Baseball, trailing Rocket City with a 2.35 mark.
ROCKING WITH REYES: After a difficult April, where Emmanuel Reyes recorded a 6.04 ERA in 25.1 innings across five starts, the righty has shut down his opponents. In his last five starts, Reyes is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in 26 innings. Since May 1, Reyes has a balmy 1.12 WHIP and has worked five or more innings in four consecutive starts. Columbia's starter just turned 20 in May and is working in part of his second season in the Carolina League.
TOUGH LUCK: Tuesday, Felix Arronde became the first Fireflies pitcher to lose five games this year. All-in-all, he's gotten some bad luck in the run support column. Arronde has three quality starts this season and an 0-2 record to go along with it. In the righty's 11 starts this year, the Fireflies have scored 10 runs across the 53 innings where he's been on the mound. In other words, Arronde has been averaging 1.70 runs of support per nine innings of work this season. That's the lowest mark in the starting rotation this year by a significant margin. The next lowest belongs to Hunter Patteson, who averaged 3.35 runs of support over 51 innings in 11 starts.
POWERING PENA: Thursday night, Fireflies outfielder Erick Pena mashed his fifth round tripper of the season. Pena has had a storied career with Columbia. He made the Opening Day Roster in 2022 and started his career with a bang, launching a walk-off homer against the Augusta GreenJackets on Opening Night. All-in-all he has mashed 24 homers in the neon and navy, nine in 2022, 10 in 2023 and five this year. It places him second on the Fireflies all-time homer leaderboard, behind Dash Winningham (25 in 2016 and 2017).
ROSADO RAISES THE BAR: Fireflies reliever Jarold Rosado has been on a roll. The righty hasn't allowed a run in five outings dating back to May 26. The stretch goes 7.1 frames and he has 10 punchouts while allowing one hit and three walks. Rosado's success can trace back to his walk rate year-over-year. Last season, he walked 23 of the 138 hitters he faced (16.7%) and this year he has lowered that rate to 5.7%.
Carolina League Stories from June 14, 2024
- RiverDogs Drop Seventh Straight Via Third Consecutive Walk-off Defeat - Charleston RiverDogs
- Offensive Slump Continues in GreenJackets' Loss to Hillcats - Augusta GreenJackets
- Pelicans Suffer Big Inning, Lose to Fireflies 7-2 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Nationals Hold off Late Mudcats' Rally - Carolina Mudcats
- Kannapolis Evens Series Against Delmarva - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Green Plates Three As Fxbg Wins - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Lynchburg Takes Third Straight - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Six-Run Seventh Propels Fireflies to Victory - Columbia Fireflies
- Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes 6.14 at Myrtle Beach - Columbia Fireflies
- Greens Walk off Charleston - Down East Wood Ducks
- Mudcats Fall in 1-0 Pitcher's Duel - Carolina Mudcats
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