Thomas McIlraith Flirts With Another Columbia No-No As Fireflies Even Series With Rome

Rome Braves @ Columbia Fireflies

July 2, 2017

Bryse Wilson @ Thomas McIlraith

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

W: McIlraith (2-0, 0.00 ERA); L: Wilson (5-4, 2.82 ERA); Save: Uceta (8)

Boxscore

The Stats:

Pitchers

Thomas McIlraith (W, 2-0, 0.00 ERA) – 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R. 3 BB, 6 K (6 K/Sw), 7 GB: 3 FB: 1 LD, 90 Pitches (57 Strikes), 10 Swinging, 15 Called, 11.1% SwStr, 23.8% Whiff/Swing, 15 Pitches/IP, 22 BF

Joseph Zanghi (H, 2, 3.56 ERA) – 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 HR, 5 TB, 4 GB: 2 FB: 1 PU, 29 Pitches (18 Strikes), 1 Swinging, 4 Called, 3.4% SwStr, 7.1% Whiff/Swing, 17.4 Pitches/IP, 8 BF

Adonis Uceta (S, 8, 1.54 ERA) – 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 2B, 2 TB, 2 K (1 K/Sw), 2 GB: 1 FB, 13 Pitches (12 Strikes), 3 Swinging, 6 Called, 23.1% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 9.7 Pitches/IP, 5 BF

Table 1 – McIlraith pitch stats by inning

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Total
Total	17	14	13	13	10	23	90
Strikes	11	8	7	9	9	13	57
Swinging*	2	2	2	1	2	1	10

*11.1% Swinging strike rate; 23.8% Whiff/Swing rate

Batters

2B - Luis Carpio - 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 5.9% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 4.25 Pitches/PA

SS - Andres Gimenez - 2-3, 1 R, 1 SAC, 2.25 Pitches/PA

CF - Jacob Zanon - 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 CS, 16.7% SwStr, 60% Whiff/Swing, 4.5 Pitches/PA

DH - Jay Jabs - 1-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 K, 16.7% SwStr, 27.3% Whiff/Swing, 4.5 Pitches/PA

3B - Colby Woodmansee - 0-4, 2 K, 11.1% SwStr, 23.1% Whiff/Swing, 6.75 Pitches/PA

1B - Brandon Brosher - 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K, 7.1% SwStr, 12.5% Whiff/Swing, 3.5 Pitches/PA

RF - Arnaldo Berrios - 2-3, 1 2B, 12.5% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 2.67 Pitches/PA

C - Ali Sanchez - 0-3, 1 K, 14.3% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 2.33 Pitches/PA

LF - Ian Strom - 0-2, 1 R, 1 HBP, 1 K, 9.1% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.67 Pitches/PA

Recapish

            If you’ve been following the Columbia Fireflies from the beginning (of last year), what Thomas McIlraith did for six innings Sunday evening against the Rome Braves is nothing new. McIlraith went six hitless for the Fireflies before yielding to the pen, but this time the Cola pen couldn’t hold on for a combined no-hitter. Rome’s left fielder Anthony Concepcion laid down a perfect bunt to start the 8^th inning and that was it for the no-no. While they couldn’t hold the no-no, Joe Zanghi and Adonis Uceta were able to hold onto the lead for a 3-2 Fireflies win.

            McIlraith walked the first batter of the game, so perfection was out of the question from the start, but that base runner was quickly erased and he then started a streak of nine straight down. That streak was snapped by an E6 in the 4^th, and McIlraith would have to work around multiple errors behind him in this start. He finished with a strikeout in each inning: Justin Ellison in the 1^st, Austin Bush in the 2^nd, Jordan Rodgers in the 3^rd, Bush again in the 4^th, Rodgers again in the 5^th, and Marcus Mooney in the 6^th.

Sanchez

K #1

K #2

Zanon in CF

Gimenez at shortstop

K #3

K #4

Woodmansee at third

K #5

McIlraith can field too

K #6

            While Cola’s starter tossed a gem, the bat built up a 3-0 lead. Luis Carpio singled in the 1^st and Arnaldo Berrios doubled in the 2^nd, but neither hit led to anything for the Fireflies.

Carpio

Berrios

            Columbia was able to break through in the 3^rd thanks to Jay Jabs, who’s up to an 0.837 OPS over his last sixteen starts (65 PA, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 18 K: 5 BB). Jabs tripled home Ian Strom (HBP) and Andres Gimenez (single) to give the Fireflies a 2-0 lead.

Gimenez

Jabs

            Brandon Brosher led off the 4^th with a double and made it to third with one out, but that’s where he’d stay stranded.

            The Fireflies added a key insurance run after Luis Carpio led off the 5^th with his thirteenth double of the season. Carpio went to third on a sac bunt and came home on a wild pitch to give Columbia a 3-0 lead. Also shown below is a Berrios single and Gimenez's second hit of the game.

Carpio

Berrios

Gimenez

            Joseph Zanghi was the first Cola reliever out of the pen and he kept the no-no going while working around another E6 in the 7^th – Gimenez had committed just three errors before this past weekend, so don’t be concerned about a few more over a two-game span. Unfortunately for Joe, he had to be the guy on the mound when Concepcion laid down a perfect bunt to end the no-no. Personally, I have no problem with a bunt single breaking up a no-no in a close game, because you can’t get mad at someone for trying to win. And that single proved huge, as Randy Ventura followed with a homer that just cleared the yellow line on top of the LF wall, which made this a 3-2 game. Zanghi bounced back to retire the next two in order, but then Manager Jose Leger came to get him as his pitch count neared 30.

Gimenez at short

Carpio at second

            Adonis Uceta would take over for the final four outs and he struck out two along the way to his eighth save of the season. He ended the game on a strikeout to strand the tying run on third base.

K #1

K #2

            Looking ahead, these two teams wrap up their series Monday evening, with Blake Taylor (0-7, 4.09 ERA) scheduled to make the 7:05 PM start for Columbia.

  

Discovery Of A Young, Dead Galaxy Creates A Huge Puzzle For Astronomers https://t.co/jLE3qi8Ys2 #astronomy pic.twitter.com/lYAVKbhjnM

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