Shorebirds Game Notes at Savannah

May 2, 2012 | Savannah, GA | Historic Grayson Stadium | 7:05 PM

Radio: ESPN Radio 960 | Online: www.960thesportsanimal.com

Pitching Matchup: LHP Tim Berry (1-3, 3.44) vs. LHP Alex Panteliodis (2-1, 0.89)

STAT OF THE DAY: Savannah and Delmarva also rank one and two in the league in opponents batting average. The league is batting .231 against the Sand Gnats and .233 against the Shorebirds. In total, the South Atlantic League has a .255 average.

PREVIEW: Following a league-wide off day on Tuesday, the Shorebirds open a seven-game road trip with game one against Savannah (Mets). The Shorebirds are coming off a 4-3 homestand. This will be their third straight Southern Division opponent. The Shorebirds are 7-4 this season against the opposite division. The Shorebirds are in third place in the North, three games back of Greensboro and Hickory.

TOP TWO PITCHING TEAMS: The top two pitching staffs in the SAL will square off over the next three nights. The Sand Gnats have the top ERA in the league (2.97) while the Shorebirds have the 2nd best ERA (3.22). Further, Savannah has allowed the fewest runs (92) and the Shorebirds have allowed the second fewest runs (96). Savannah leads the SAL in WHIP (1.13) while the Shorebirds rank fourth (1.30).

9 TIMES: The Shorebirds have held the opposition to two or fewer runs in 9 of 24 games this season. The opposition has scored over five runs only six times.

4 OF TOP 10: The Shorebirds have four of the top ten hitters in the Orioles minor league system. John Ruettiger (.323) and Gabriel Lino (.313) rank second and third while Sammie Starr (.284) and Glynn Davis (.277) rank ninth and tenth. Ron Welty leads the system with a .383 batting average.

TOP TWO BASE STEALERS: The Shorebirds have the top two base stealers in the Orioles farm system in John Ruettiger (10) and Glynn Davis (9). They rank tied for fourth and tied for eighth in the South Atlantic League, respectively. Delino Deshields, Jr. leads the SAL with 16 stolen bases.

FIRST SINCE 2009: The Shorebirds are making their first trip to Savannah since the 2009 season. They split a four-game series from August 14-17. The Shorebirds won all five meetings with the Sand Gnats at Perdue Stadium last season.

HOWARD 7TH IN ERA: Left-hander Trent Howard ranks seventh in the SAL with a 1.86 ERA. He is the only player in the top 50 in the league in ERA that has not started a game this season.

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