Molina's Hot Start Stretches to Charleston

CHARLESTON, SC - Gerson Molina's encore performance on Wednesday was almost as dazzling as his first. Molina made his professional debut on Monday and tallied a pair of hits and three RBI. The 23-year-old Cuban notched another multi-hit game in Wednesday's 7-1 loss to Charleston at Joe Riley Park.
Molina has quickly become the most exciting bat in the lineup. The outfielder has also put the ball into play all seven at-bats to start his Mets minor league career. The righty has yet to strike out. Unfortunately, his two hits accounted for half of Columbia's (9-22) total on Wednesday. The Fireflies fell behind 5-1 after two frames and never recovered.
The visitors were flummoxed by Charleston (18-14) starter Jio Orozco (W, 3-2), who allowed one run over seven innings. Columbia had just one runner reach base from the fifth inning on.
Fireflies relievers Darwin Ramos (2 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) and Andrew Mitchell (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K) were solid out of the bullpen.
SCORING SUMMARY:
Bottom 1: Wilkerman Garcia hits two-run homer. CHS 2, COL 0
Top 2: Chandler Avant singles through the left side and plates Gerson Molina. CHS 2, COL 1
Bottom 2: Brandon Lockridge doubles and Kyle Gray scores on the error by left fielder Walter Rasquin while fielding the ball … Garcia and Stowers mash back-to-back run-scoring doubles. CHS 5, COL 1
Bottom 5: Nelson Gomez drives in a run with a single … Mickey Gasper knocks in Gomez with a double. CHS 7, COL 1
Columbia takes on Charleston again on Thursday at 7:05 ET. Right-hander Willy Taveras (2-3, 3.90) is expected to start for the Fireflies while righty Daniel Bies (2-1, 4.07) starts for the RiverDogs. Tune into the action at FirefliesLiveStream.com.