Fireflies drop Saturday doubleheader in Asheville

ASHEVILLE, NC – Matt Winaker continued his torrid stretch at the plate with doubles in each game of the doubleheader on Saturday. Columbia’s offense came up short, though, and lost both games at McCormick Field by final scores of 5-1 and 8-0, respectively.

With the two hits, Winaker stretched his on-base streak to 16 straight – a streak that began on July 19. Columbia (17-24, 51-57) mustered just three hits over the two games in the doubleheader, with the only other base hit recorded by Gio Alfonzo.

Chris Viall (L, 3-) did strike out nine in the second game on Saturday, but was bested by Asheville (21-20, 48-62) starter Will Gaddis (W, 5-5). Gaddis logged six scoreless frames on the heels of Lucas Gilbreath’s (W, 5-8) performance in game one: the Tourists lefty posted five shut-out frames. Luc Rennie (L, 2-1) battled, but was dealt the loss in the first tilt.

Columbia’s series finale against Asheville is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Jake Simon (0-5, 3.70) takes the McCormick Field mound for the Fireflies and faces Tourists’ lefty Nick Kennedy (2-12, 7.53). You can listen to the action on FOX Sports Radio 1400 AM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the iHeartRadio Radio app starting at 1:45 p.m.

Fireflies Media Relations contributed to this article.