Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes at Myrtle Beach
August 24, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster:
LHP Emilio Marquez has been promoted to the Quad Cities RiverBandits active roster
LHP Caden Monke has been added to the Columbia Fireflies active roster
Monke will wear jersey #16. Kip Rollings has switched his jersey to #19.
The Fireflies active roster now sits at 30 with four on the injured list.
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The Columbia Fireflies open up a six-game trip to Myrtle Beach tonight at 7:05 pm at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. RHP Heribert Garcia (0-1, 3.18 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with RHP Richard Gallardo (2-8, 4.44 ERA).
The Fireflies return home to Segra Park for a six-game homestand with the Charleston RiverDogs August 31. It all starts with a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday where hot dogs, popcorn, fountain soda and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite are all only $2. You can purchase tickets at FirefliesTickets.com.
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EIGHT-RUN SECOND LEADS FIREFLIES OVER RIVERDOGS: The Columbia Fireflies took advantage of a sloppy start from the RiverDogs to score eight in the second, beating Charleston 10-4 to close out their series at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark Sunday evening. Audry Lugo (L, 3-2), walked the bases loaded without recording an out in the second frame before serving up a double to Enrique Valdez to put the Fireflies (45-51) up a pair to start off the game. The inning didn't end there though. Jean Ramirez, Diego Hernandez and Tyler Tolbert all reached base safely to put the Fireflies up 5-0 to set the table for Juan Carlos Negret, who smashed his league-leading 21st homer of the season to put Columbia in front 8-0. The Fireflies utilized an excellent start from Luinder Avila (W, 2-0) to keep the RiverDogs (67-29) at bay. Avila allowed two, unearned runs in five innings Sunday, bringing his total to 10 innings in two starts in the Low-A East, and Avila hasn't allowed an earned run during the stretch. Chih-Ting Wang ran into some trouble in the bullpen, allowing a pair of runs to score in the bottom of the eighth that drew the RiverDogs within 10-4. Taylor Bloye was able to close out the game in the ninth though as Columbia cruised to victory.
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 21 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 67 RBI, which is good for the second most in the league in the 2021 campaign. He trails only Charleston's Diego Infante, who has sent home 69 RBI for the 67-29 RiverDogs this season.
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.
HEY, IT'S FRANKLIN: A.J. Franklin spun three scoreless frames last night, bringing his tally to 5.2 scoreless innings while donning a Fireflies uniform. It hasn't always been clean for the Vanderbilt-product, who has a 1.59 WHIP with the Fireflies so far. He has walked seven batters and allowed a pair of his in his four outings with Columbia, but he has been able to work around trouble to keep runs from scoring in each of his outings so far.
SUNDAY SCARIES: The Columbia Fireflies are 5-8 on Sundays this season. The .385 winning percentage is by far the worst mark for the Fireflies on any day of the week. Columbia is actually above .500 on Tuesdays and Thursdays this season. The team holds a 7-6 record on Tuesdays and a 10-8 record on Thursdays this season. With three Sundays remaining on the schedule, the Fireflies would have to win each of their Sunday games to finish .500 on the season on the start of the week.
WELCOME TO TOWN: Columbia has added LHP Caden Monk, the first member of the 2021 draft class to the roster.
Carolina League Stories from August 24, 2021
- Polanco Homers for Ballers in Loss to Hillcats - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- FredNats Drop Seventh Straight in Loss to Mudcats - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Wood Ducks and Woodpeckers Split Doubleheader - Down East Wood Ducks
- 'Birds Ride Bats to Series Opening Win over Red Sox - Delmarva Shorebirds
- GreenJackets Snap 15-Game Losing Streak against RiverDogs with 6-3 Win - Charleston RiverDogs
- Home Winning Streak Reaches Eight After 6-3 Win over Charleston - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Can't Get Key Hit Early, Fall 6-1 in Opener - Columbia Fireflies
- Baker, Quintanilla, Saenz Join FredNats; Martina Promoted; Diaz to Injured List; Turner and Vann Released - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes at Myrtle Beach - Columbia Fireflies
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - vs. Fayetteville - Down East Wood Ducks
- McGee and Zamora Promoted; Black and Raabe to Carolina - Carolina Mudcats
- Williams and Seymour Promoted to Bowling Green - Charleston RiverDogs
- Cannon Baller Chronicle: Week 16 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
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