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Gnats Game Notes: Wednesday, July 6 Vs. Rome

July 6, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL) Savannah Sand Gnats

Savannah Sand Gnats (12-1/51-31, 1st, Southern) vs. Rome Braves (2-11/27-56, 7th, Southern)

Game #83 - Home Game #42 - Wednesday - 7:05

RHP Taylor Whitenton (4-1, 2.79) vs. RHP Caleb Brewer (4-6, 4.33)

Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA

Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com

Tonight: The first-half champion Gnats, winners of 11 games in a row, finish a three game series against the Rome Braves, looking for their third-straight series sweep. The Gnats conclude their seven-game home stand with four games against the Greensboro Grasshoppers Thursday through Sunday.

Last Night: Sam Honeck singled home the Gnats' only run in the sixth inning in Savannah's 1-0 win. Ryan Fraser and two relievers combined on a four-hit shutout.

Now Pitching: RHP Taylor Whitenton, who is fifth in the SAL in ERA (2.79), is scheduled to make his 13th start of the year today. Whitenton leads the SAL in batting average against (.192). Whitenton is 10th in the SAL in strikeouts (76). Whitenton started the All-Star game for the Southern Division team, working one inning. In 2010 with the Gnats, Whitenton walked 5.7 batters/9 IP (68 BB/108.1 IP). This year, he's walked 4.4 BB/9 (33 BB/67.2 IP). Last year with Savannah, Whitenton was 8-9 with a 4.57 ERA in 18 starts and eight relief appearances with the Gnats. He fanned 113 batters and walked 68, the second-most in the SAL, in 108.1 innings. In 2009, Whitenton threw five scoreless innings over four games in the Gulf Coast League, striking out seven, walking five and yielding just one hit. The Mets drafted Whitenton in the 39th round of the 2009 draft out of Darton (GA) College. The Gnats are 9-3 when Whitenton starts and have supported him with 3.6 runs per game.

A Rare Streak: The Gnats' 11-game winning streak matches their best since the 1993 season. Both the 1993 Savannah Cardinals and the 2000 Savannah Sand Gnats won 11 consecutive games. The Gnats' 11-game winning streak in 2000 was snapped on August 11 and the 1993 streak was snapped on May 30.

Streak Scoring: The Gnats have outscored Augusta and Rome, their only opponents on the streak, by a combined score of 60-26, or 5.5 runs to 2.4 runs per game. The Gnats have scored five runs or more in seven of the 11 games on their winning streak. ... The Gnat have four one-run victories on their streak and three two-run victories.

Top Gnats: The Gnats' 51-31 overall record is the best in the SAL. The Gnats own the fifth-best winning percentage (.622) among all full-season minor league teams. San Antonio (AA-Padres) has the best record among the 120 full-season affiliates at .707 (58-24) and is the only team playing better than .700 baseball.... The Gnats are one of only eight full-season teams with a winning percentage above .600 ... The Gnats are 20 games over .500 for the first time in 2011.

Honeck's U-turn: Sam Honeck has hit .371 (13-for-35) in his last ten games. He hit .500 (21-for-42) in his first 11 games of the season and in between hit .137 (25-for-183).

Hot: In his last four games, C Blake Forsythe is 5-for-12 (.417) with three doubles, a triple and four walks.

Georgia's Best: The Gnats are a combined 27-5 (.844) against the other two SAL teams that call Georgia home, the Augusta GreenJackets and the Rome Braves. The Gnats are 24-26 against all other SAL opponents combined.

Strong Arms: The Gnats have the SAL's best ERA (3.09), nearly half a run (48 hundredths) better than second-place Hickory. The Gnats have allowed the fewest hits (634), 13 fewer than Hickory and 217 fewer than Augusta, which has allowed the most.

Vs. Rome: The Gnats are 15-3 against Rome in 2011, 8-2 at home and 7-1 on the road.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 6, 2011


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