Harol Gonzalez Dazzles As Fireflies Take Opener With Rival Charleston | Astromets Mind

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Harol Gonzalez Dazzles As Fireflies Take Opener With Rival Charleston

Charleston River Dogs @ Columbia Fireflies


June 9, 2017



Teams
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

R
H
E
Charleston
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0

1
10
0
Columbia
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
X

3
5
1
W: Gonzalez (3-4, 4.34 ERA); L: Diehl (6-2, 4.00 ERA); Save: Uceta (4)



The Highlights:

Pitchers

Harol Gonzalez (W, 3-4, 4.34 ERA) – 7.2 IP, 9 H, 1 R (1 ER), 9 TB, 2 BB, 6 K (3 K/Sw), 15 GB: 3 FB: 4 LD: 2 PU, 106 Pitches (70 Strikes), 12 Swinging, 16 Called, 11.3% SwStr, 22.2% Whiff/Swing, 13.8 Pitches/IP, 32 BF
Adonis Uceta (S, 4, 2.10 ERA) – 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 TB, 1 BB, 3 K (2 K/Sw), 2 GB, 31 Pitches (25 Strikes), 4 Swinging, 6 Called, 12.9% SwStr, 21.1% Whiff/Swing, 23.2 Pitches/IP, 6 BF

Batters

RF - Gene Cone - 0-3, 1 BB, 1 CS, 4.25 Pitches/PA
SS - Luis Carpio - 1-2, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 CS, 4.75 Pitches/PA
2B - Michael Paez - 1-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K, 21.4% SwStr, 42.9% Whiff/Swing, 3.5 Pitches/PA
1B - Dash Winningham - 0-3, 1 BB, 2.5 Pitches/PA
CF - Desmond Lindsay - 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K, 10.5% SwStr, 28.6% Whiff/Swing, 4.75 Pitches/PA
C - Ali Sanchez - 0-3, 2 K, 4 Pitches/PA
DH - Jay Jabs - 0-3, 2 K, 9.1% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 3.67 Pitches/PA
LF - Tim Tebow - 0-3, 2 K, 12.5% SwStr, 40% Whiff/Swing, 5.33 Pitches/PA
3B - Milton Ramos - 2-3, 1 R, 1 SB, 16.7% SwStr, 20% Whiff/Swing, 2 Pitches/PA


Recapish


            The Columbia Fireflies took the opener of a five-game series with their top in-state rival, the Chareleston River Dogs, Friday night for their fifth straight win. Harol Gonzalez started for the home Fireflies and turned in his fifth straight start with two runs or less allowed – he’s gone 7+ IP in three of those starts. Harol pitched into the 8th for the first time this year and third time as a pro. He had a shutout bid going into the 8th, but the River Dogs finally BABIP’d their way to a run. Harol was supported by a 432’ blast off the bat of Desmond Lindsay and a two run double from Michael Paez later in the game – Paez became the first SAL player to 20 doubles in 2017.
            Harol allowed nine hits, but they were all singles, and six of them were on grounders – he got BABIP’d. Most of the hits were better placed than struck. Harol needed just eight pitches in a quick 1st. Charleston connected for their first two hits in the 2nd, but those singles were sandwiched by Harol’s first two strikeouts: Donny Sands and Brandon Wagner.


Just a swinging strike

K #1

Replay of third pitch in sequence



K #2

Replay of third pitch in sequence

            Lindsay started the bottom of the 2nd with a monster shot to left center. They estimated it at 432’, which is only a little deeper than the homer he hit in Hagerstown last week.



            The River Dogs had a good chance to get that run back in the 3rd. Mandy Alarez led off with a single through the left side and ended up on second after a pickoff attempt went awry. Harol responded with a strikeout of Estevan Florial for the first out of the frame. Alvarez then got greedy and tried to reach third on a ball in the dirt that bounced away from Ali Sanchez, which means he clearly never got the memo, because #YouDontRunOnAli.

K #3


Just a swinging strike


            Luis Carpio connected for his eleventh double of the season in the 3rd.


            After quickly setting the side down in order during the 4th, Harol ran into a bases loaded threat during the 5th. Dalton Blaser and Wagner singled off Harol – both on liners into CF – and then Gonzalez issued a walk to Alvarez. Harol settled down to strikeout Florial again in a key situation, and then a lazy fly out to CF ended the threat.

Just a swinging strike

K #4



Just a swinging strike

            The Fireflies added some key insurance runs in the 5th. Milton Ramos picked up his first of two singles, went to second on a walk to Carpio, and then both runners came home on the Paez double. The second Ramos hit (from the 7th) is also shown below.

Ramos

Paez

Ramos

            Harol added a strikeout of Isiah Gilliam in the 6th, and then another one of Wagner in the 7th. Gene Cone made a fantastic diving catch in RF for the first out of the 6th.



K #5

K #6


Just a swinging strike

            With just 88 pitches to his record, Harol went out for the 8th knowing he’d have a chance at the 9th if he could toss a quick inning. That went out of the window when he walked Florial to start the frame, but he still had a chance to finish eight shutout innings.  Florial was thrown out over-sliding third on a single to RF that followed – nice throw from Cone on the play, even if it was originally late. The next batter hit a comebacker to Harol, but his only play was at first, so Diego Castillo was at second when Gilliam came up.
            As mentioned, several of the hits were better placed than struck. To expand on that, those hits were "shift busters" that basically rolled through an open side of the infield. The Fireflies regular shortstop has been Andres Gimenez, but he was given the night off Friday, so Luis Carpio was in that position, and shifted near second, when Gilliam came up. This meant he had a long way to go on a grounder that would’ve been pretty routine without the shift, and since his arm strength hasn’t really recovered (and was fringe for SS before his shoulder problems), he had no chance to get Gilliam at first on the play. 
            Castillo was running hard through the play and Dash Winningham initially dropped the bounced throw from Carpio, so Castillo was able to come home from second for the River Dogs only run.




            Harol still had a chance to finish the frame, but the next batter singled to knock him out of the game. Adonis Uceta came in and kept the Fireflies ahead 3-1, although he walked the first batter he saw to load the bases.
            The 9th went much more smoothly for Uceta, and he actually finished just one strike three away from an immaculate inning – he was 0-2 on the third batter of the frame after striking out Wagner and Alvarez on six pitches. Uceta still ended up striking out three in the 9th, finishing the game with a strikeout of Castillo.


K #1


K #2 setup

K #2


K #3


            With the Fireflies clicking in every facet of the game, they are likely happy to have the rival River Dogs in town for five this weekend. These two will square off for two Saturday evening, with Jordan Humphreys (8-1, 1.40 ERA) and Thomas Szapucki (second start of season) scheduled to pitch for the Fireflies. The first game will start at 5:05 PM and, as always, the second game will start about thirty minutes after the first 7-inning game ends.


Pitcher Coverage


Table 1 – Harol pitch stats by inning

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
Total
Total
8
13
10
11
23
14
9
18
106
Strikes
5
10
7
7
16
10
6
9
70
Swinging*
1
2
2
1
2
1
3
0
12
*11.3% Swinging strike rate; 22.2% Whiff/Swing rate






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