Gnats Game Notes: Friday, September 3 Vs. Asheville

Published on September 3, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Savannah Sand Gnats (30-35/72-63, 6th, Southern) vs. Asheville Tourists (39-27/68-67), 2nd, Southern)

Game #136 - Home Game #66 - Friday - 7:05

RHP Gonzalez Germen (1-0, 1.29) vs. LHP Jonathan Vargas (4-9, 6.67)

Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA

Radio: News/Talk 630; sandgnats.com

Tonight: The first-half-champion Gnats, who ride a three-game winning streak, open their final home series of the 2010 season against the Asheville Tourists, the SAL affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The Gnats are looking for their third four-game winning streak of the second half.

Last Night: For the second night in a row, the Gnats blew out the Grasshoppers, winning 12-2 Thursday after an 11-0 beating on Wednesday. The Gnats tied a season-high with three home runs in the game. C Juan Torreswas 5-5 with a his second home run in as many nights while starter Armando Rodriguez threw five shutout innings for his ninth win. He's up to third in the SAL in ERA at 3.08. Today is the first day that former Gnat Jimmy Fuller and his 1.93 ERA have fallen short of the number of innings to qualify for the league leaders.

Now Pitching: Gonzalez Germen, will make his second Savannah start of the year tonight. Germen was tremendous in his SAL debut last Saturday, yielding just one run on two hits, with seven strikeouts and zero walks in a seven-inning complete game. He was perfect through 4.2 innings in that start. Germen was 2-5 in 10 starts in Kingsport with 54 strikeouts against 11 walks in 61 innings. In three starts in August, he owned a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings. He allowed seven runs, three earned, with 19 strikeouts against two walks. Gonzalez split 2009 between the Dominican Summer League and the Gulf Coast League. He won the 2008 DSL Sterling Award as the team's MVP.

Gaga for Greensboro: The Gnats scored 44 runs in the first four games of their series in Greensboro, their most prolific four games of the 2010 season. In the four games in Greensboro, the Gnats hit .321 (53 H/165 AB) with 10 doubles, seven home runs, and drew 17 walks. Savannah was also helped by the Grasshoppers defense, which committed 14 errors in the final three games - all Gnats' wins.

Road Power: The Gnats finished the road portion of their schedule at 34-36, 18-17 in the first half and 16-19 in the second half. This year, the Gnats have scored 3.72 runs per game at home (242 runs/65 games) and 5.33 runs per game on the road (373 runs/70 games).

Rockin' Robbie: Robbie Shields enjoyed a big series against Greensboro. He hit .571 (10-for-19) with a double, two home runs, seven runs and six RBI.

Vs. Asheville: Savannah is 7-11 against Asheville, 3-6 at home and 4-5 on the road.

Torres' Terrific Night: Juan Torres, who was 5-5 with a home run last night, became the fourth Gnat with five hits in a game, joining Juan Lagares, Pedro Zapata and Matt den Dekker. He became the second Gnat to homer in back-to-back games after Robbie Shields homered in each of the first two games against Greensboro.

Playoff Chase: With four games to play, the Greenville Drive are a game and a half in front of Asheville for first place and the right to face the Gnats in the first round of the SAL playoffs. The Drive have a magic number of three to clinch the second half title. The Gnats are 7-11 against Asheville and 4-6 against Greenville.

The Best of the Mets: The Gnats, at 72 wins, have set a new high as a Mets affiliate. The last time Savannah won as many as 72 games in a season was 2000, when the Gnats finished 74-65 as a Texas Rangers affiliate.

Playoff Schedule: By virtue of winning the first half, the Gnats will have home-field advantage in the Southern Division Championship Series. The second half winner will host game one on Wednesday, September 8 before the series returns to Savannah for game two on Friday, September 10 and game three, if necessary, on Saturday, September 11.

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