Andrew Church Puts Up A Maddux In His Return To Columbia

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Andrew Church Puts Up A Maddux In His Return To Columbia

Rome Braves @ Columbia Fireflies

July 16, 2016

Touki Toussaint @ Andrew Church

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Rome	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Columbia	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	X	4	7	0

W: Church (3-0, 0.42 ERA); L: Toussaint (2-6, 4.40 ERA)

Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Andrew Church (W, 3-0, 0.42 ERA) – 9 IP, 1 H, 1 TB, 1 BB, 10 K (5 K/Sw), 1 GIDP, 8 GB: 4 FB: 3 LD: 2 PU, 99 Pitches (73 Strikes), 10 Swinging, 22 Called, 10.1% SwStr, 19.6% Whiff/Swing, 11 Pitches/IP, 30 BF

Batters

CF - Tucker Tharp - 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 CS, 3.5 Pitches/PA

LF - Vicente Lupo - 3-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB, 20% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 3.75 Pitches/PA

DH - Eudor Garcia - 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 10% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 2.5 Pitches/PA

RF - Joe Tuschak - 1-4, 1 K, 5.6% SwStr, 20% Whiff/Swing, 4.5 Pitches/PA

C - Tyler Moore - 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 K, 8.3% SwStr, 12.5% Whiff/Swing, 8 Pitches/PA

Recapish

Andrew Church returned to the Fireflies with a bang Saturday night, tossing a complete game one hit shutout on just 99 pitches, which is also known as a “Maddux” for all-time great Greg Maddux. Vicente Lupo did much of the damage for Columbia on offense, finishing a triple shy of the cycle and with two runs batted in.

Church made a pair of starts for Columbia earlier in the season before being promoted to the St. Lucie Mets, where he posted a 3.60 ERA over 6 starts (35 IP). He owned Rome for 7.2 IP on May 30^th, but then took his effort to another level Saturday night. Per this cached cbssports post, there have only been three 9-inning starts with a better game score than Church’s 100 in MLB history, and the maximum score would be 114. Who knows how that ranks on the all-time SAL leaderboard, and it’s not a great stat, but that’s still pretty impressive.

The Braves nearly scored against Church in the 1^st, which is when they scratched out their only hit of the game. With two strikes on him, Ray-Patrick Didder took a pitch to the back to start the game for a second straight night. He advanced to 2B on a sac bunt but was thrown out trying to reach third base on a groundout to Jean Rodriguez at shortstop. The heads up play from J.C. proved big when Justin Ellison followed with the Braves only hit of the game.

Columbia jumped ahead in the bottom of the 1^st when Vicente Lupo doubled home Tucker Tharp, and that run was all Church needed. After the single, Church retired 13 straight before issuing a leadoff walk in the 6^th. He also hit Didder for a second time in the frame but was helped out when his teammates turned a 5-4-3 double play behind him.

The Fireflies scratched out runs in the 3^rd and 4^th to give Church some breathing room and Eudor Garcia added a solo blast in the 8^th to cap the scoring. I break down the scoring, defense, and pitching highlights below, so enjoy! This series continues Sunday at 5:05 PM, with Kevin Canelon (5-7, 3.13 ERA) scheduled to start for the Fireflies.