Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes at Augusta
September 12, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster.
UTIL Tyler Tolbert has been activated off the injured list and placed on the Quad Cities River Bandits active roster
RHP Taylor Bloye has been sent to the ACL Royals
RHP Kipp Rollings has been placed on the voluntarily retired list.
There are no corresponding moves. The Fireflies active roster now sits at 27 with five on the injured list. Updated roster attached.
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The Fireflies close out their series with a contest against the Augusta GreenJackets today at 6:30 pm at SRP Park. LHP Rylan Kaufman (2-5, 5.74 ERA) gets the ball for Columbia and RHP James Acuna (2-0, 4.23 ERA) will start for Augusta.
Columbia has one homestand remaining in the 2021 campaign from August 14-19. There's plenty of fun in store, including a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday, White Claw Wednesday Day and Bud Light Thirsty Thursday. In addition to the drink specials, the Fireflies will pull out all the stops for their promotions, hosting Grateful Dead Night Friday and Wands and Wizards Night Saturday. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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11 STRAIGHT L'S AFTER HEARTBREAKER IN AUGUSTA: The Fireflies mounted a comeback, getting to within one of the GreenJackets in the eighth, but they couldn't climb over the apex as they lost 6-4 Saturday evening at SRP Park. A wild pitch in the top of the fifth that scored Burle Dixon to tie the game 2-2 started the Fireflies offensive momentum swing. After allowing three runs on two homers in the home half of the frame, Columbia (47-66) scored a run off an error in the sixth to make the score 5-3. They didn't stop there, Omar Hernandez launched a double to left to score Enrique Valdez to draw the club within a single run, but that's as close as the club got in its 11th consecutive loss. For a second consecutive night, the Fireflies scored the first run of the ballgame and again, it was a run handed to them by the GreenJackets. Luca Tresh rolled a ball to shortstop Cal Conley, who committed a throwing error that allowed Burle Dixon to score and the Fireflies to take the lead. The lead wouldn't last long though, starter Wander Arias (L, 0-2) gave up a two-run homer to Justyn-Henry Malloy in the bottom of the first as Augusta retook the lead. Malloy had a two-homer evening, slamming a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth to put Augusta on top 5-2. The long ball was Augusta's medium of choice. Landon Stephens smoked his 21st bomb of the season off the scoreboard in left field to ice the game 6-4 in the eighth.
LUCKY NUMBER 11?: The Fireflies have lost 11 consecutive games and 15 of their last 17. Of those 15 losses, Columbia has only been within three in five games. The Fireflies have been outscored 101-34 during their 11-game losing streak.
CHALLENGING LEAGUE TOP MARKS: Fireflies outfielder Juan Carlos Negret has established himself as an all-or-nothing hitter during the 2021 campaign. The slugger leads the Low-A East League with 22 homers, which is the most in a single season in Fireflies history. He trails just Dash Winningham, who hit 25 homers between the 2016 and 2017 campaigns for the most all-time homers in Fireflies history. Negret has also done an excellent job at producing RBI this season. Despite having a sub-.200 batting average, Negret has driven in 74 RBI, which is good for the second-best in the league in the 2021 campaign. He only trails Charleston's Diego Infante, who has sent home 77 RBI for the RiverDogs this season.
50 SPOT: Left fielder Darryl Collins drove in his 50th RBI of the season during game one of the doubleheader against Augusta Thursday. He did it while launching his sixth homer of the year. Collins' 50 RBI trail only Negret on the Fireflies and place him with the 19th-most RBI in the Low-A East League this season.
SPINNING THE WHEEL OF PROGRESS: The Kansas City Royals have made a few roster moves the last few days affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster. Tyler Tolbert has been activated from the injured list and promoted to Quad Cities' active roster. Finally, Taylor Bloye has been sent to the ACL Royals and Kipp Rollings has been placed on the voluntary retired list. Tolbert had a Fireflies-record 49 stolen bases while in the soda city and hit .318 in the month of August before hurting his ankle while sliding into second on a double. The .318 average across the month of August was his best month of the season by nearly .100 points.
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Carolina League Stories from September 12, 2021
- Winning Streak Snapped, Jackets Fall 7-6 in Home Finale - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Revel in Slump-Breaking Win - Columbia Fireflies
- Final Home Game of Regular Season Results in Shutout Loss to Pelicans - Charleston RiverDogs
- Pelicans Shutout RiverDogs in Final Road Game of the Season - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- 'Birds Wrap Home Campaign with Victory over FredNats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- FredNats Drop Road Finale in Back-And-Forth Defeat - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Carolina Falls 5-2 in Home Finale - Carolina Mudcats
- Kannapolis Tops Fayetteville in Final Home Game of the Season - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- White K's 10 as Woodies Take Finale in Zebulon - Down East Wood Ducks
- Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - at Carolina - Down East Wood Ducks
- Hearn's Grand Slam Powers Pelicans over RiverDogs - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Kannapolis on Wrong End of Comeback; Drop to Woodpeckers 9-8 Saturday - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
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