Bats Shut Down in 6-2 Memorial Day Loss
COLUMBIA, SC – The Fireflies were able to score two in the eighth off of wild pitches, but couldn’t rally as they fell to the Salem Red Sox 6-2 Monday afternoon at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Ben Hernandez returned to the bump for the first time since May 13. He was
COLUMBIA, SC – The Fireflies were able to score two in the eighth off of wild pitches, but couldn’t rally as they fell to the Salem Red Sox 6-2 Monday afternoon at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
Ben Hernandez returned to the bump for the first time since May 13. He was able to set down each of the three hitters he faced, punching out a pair. The righty threw 12 of his 18 pitches for strikes in his return.
After that, Wander Arias (L, 2-4) tackled the majority of the innings, spinning 4.2 innings in relief. He ran into some trouble in the fourth. After walking Marcelo Meyer to start the frame, River Town committed a fielding error which put runners on second and third with no one out. Blaze Jordan cleared the bases with a triple to break the scoreless tie and put Salem (23-23) in front 2-0. Eduardo Lopez hit a sacrifice fly to score Jordan to put Salem in front 3-0.
Columbia (14-32) was held in check by Juan Daniel Encarnacion (W, 4-3), who worked five scoreless frames before handing the ball to the pen.
The Fireflies lone runs came in the eighth. After reaching on a fielder’s choice and a walk, Carter Jensen and Guillermo Quintana were able to come around on a pair of wild pitchers from reliever Jhonny Felix. That drew the score to 6-2 at the conclusion of the top of the eighth.
Omar Hernandez notched a pair of hits in the game, working his fifth multi-hit game of the season.
The Red Sox were able to add another trio of runs in the seventh inning to distance themselves further from the Fireflies.
The Fireflies will take tomorrow off and then resume the six-game series with the Salem Red Sox Wednesday at 7:05 pm at Salem Memorial Ballpark. RHP Shane Panzini (0-0, 0.00 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and the Red Sox go with RHP Tyler Uberstine (2-1, 4.46 ERA).
Columbia returns home for a two-week homestand June 7-19 that includes two Budweiser Thirsty Thursdays, two Freebie Fridays, two firework shows and the return of Negro League Weekend! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.