(Story courtesy Augusta GreenJackets)
COLUMBIA – The Augusta GreenJackets (27-22, 62-53) tied a franchise record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, punching out nineteen times for the second time this year as they fell to the Columbia Fireflies (23-26, 57-58) 6-3 on Wednesday night.
The Jackets entered the night with the most strikeouts in the Carolina League, and did nothing to shake off that title against five different Columbia pitchers. All five arms had at least two Ks, with starter Michael Lombardi punching out seven men in four innings. All nine GreenJacket starters struck out at least once, with three different players striking out three times.
The Fireflies threatened to pull away early in the game, as they chased starter Yander Pinero in less than an inning. Pinero gave up three hits and two walks, capped by a two-run single from Tyson Moran to open the scoring. Pinero ran out of bullets after the base hit and surrendered the ball to his skipper, but Kade Woods stranded the bases loaded to limit the damage.
Columbia tacked on a run in the second against Woods, then went dormant until the final frames of the night. Augusta, meanwhile, slowly clawed back with a lengthy third inning to shorten the day for Lombardi. The Jackets loaded the bases with two outs, and Jacob Jarrell ripped a two-strike fastball into left field for a two-RBI single.
Jarrell’s swing would be the only hit with runners in scoring position in the game, marking the third straight night where Augusta had just one hit in those situations. The Jackets would tie the game in the fifth thanks to four walks from Jesus Oliviera, but could not get the swing necessary to take the lead.
While Augusta’s bats whiffed their way through the back half of the game, Gensi Angeles turned in his best outing as a GreenJacket to keep Augusta tied. After struggling in three outings as a starter, Angeles twirled four scoreless frames in relief to keep Columbia at bay and give the Jackets a chance.
The Fireflies finally broke through in the eighth, taking the lead against Styven Paez to give him his first loss of the year. After Paez stranded the go-ahead run at third in the seventh, the Fireflies loaded the bases on two singles and a walk with no outs. Paez got back-to-back outs at the plate on fielder’s choices to give Augusta hope, but then promptly sent a slider to the backstop to give Columbia the lead. Two pitches later, Yandel Ricardo roped a two-run single the other way to put any shadow of a doubt to rest.
With Wednesday’s performance now squarely in the rearview mirror, the GreenJackets look to return to form tomorrow night against a struggling starter in Ryan McDonagh. The Jackets give the ball to Davis Polo, who has won four straight starts and leads the club in strikeouts.
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