Gnats Game Notes: May 9 Vs. Hickory

Published on May 9, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Savannah Sand Gnats (12-17, 4th, Southern) vs. Hickory Crawdads (19-10, 2 nd, Northern)

Game #30 -

Home Game #14 - Monday - 7:05 RHP Gonzalez Germen (1-1, 5.09) vs. RHP Carlos Melo (2-2, 6.19)

Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA

Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com

Tonight: The Gnats, SAL affiliate of the New York Mets, begin a four-game series against the Hickory Crawdads, SAL affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The Gnats split the first four games of the home stand against the Rome Braves.

Yesterday: DH Robert Hefflinger's two-run triple in the fourth inning was the big blow in Rome's 3-0 win. LF Cory Vaughn, who was 3-4 with a double, and CF Darrell Ceciliani, who was 2-4, accounted for all five Gnats' hits.

Now Pitching: RHP Gonzalez Germen is scheduled to make his sixth appearance and his fourth start tonight. In his last start, Germen held Lakewood to two runs on six hits and two walks in six innings. As a reliever he has a K/BB ratio of four (8 K/2 BB), as a starter, it's 1.86 (13 K/7 BB). Germen spent most of the 2010 season with Kingsport in the Appalachian League where he was 2-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 61 innings over 10 starts. He struck out 54 and walked 11 for a healthy K/BB ratio of 4.9. He made two starts with Savannah to finish out the year. On August 27th, in his Savannah debut, in game two of a double-header, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and a shutout into the seventh. The Gnats are 0-3 when Germen starts and have supported him with 2.33 runs per game, the lowest mark among any starter who has made three or more starts.

Cory's Cuts: Cory Vaughn tied a Gnats season-high with three hits in yesterday's game. He's ninth in the SAL in on-base percentage (.442) and is 16th in batting average (.327). In his last ten games he's hitting .419/.561/.548 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with four doubles, six walks and eight strikeouts.

Roster Update: Monday, Savannah reliever Ronny Morla was promoted to advanced-A St. Lucie. The right-handed Morla's .130 batting average against was the third-best among all SAL relievers.

Scouting the Crawdads: Hickory comes into Savannah with the SAL's second-best record at 20-10, one half game behind the division-leading Hagerstown Suns. Hickory is fifth in the SAL in runs scored (150) and averages 5.2 runs per game. The 'Dads are fourth in the League in batting average, and fourth in on-base percentage and slugging as part of a .284/.358/.419 team line. Hickory has stolen 43 bases, the second-most in the SAL. The team's 24 caught-stealing are also second.

Strong Starting: In the first four games of the Gnats' home stand, starters Taylor Whitenton, Greg Peavey, Ryan Fraser and Erik Goeddelhave combined on 24.2 innings yielding just three runs on 15 hits allowed. In the last nine games, Savannah starters are 4-1 with a 1.29 ERA (7 ER/48.2 IP) with 37 strikeouts, 13 walks and 38 hits allowed. In those nine games, Gnats starters have a strikeout to walk ratio of 2.85 and have given up as many as two runs just twice. Three times Gnats starters have held their opponent without a run and four times they have held their opponent to one run.

More Pitching: The Crawdads are second in the SAL in ERA (3.76) while the Gnats are up to third (3.79).

Vs. Hickory: The Gnats are 1-3 against Hickory in 2011, all on the road. This series concludes the season-series between the two games. The Gnats and Crawdads split the 2010 season series 2-2 with all four games played at Historic Grayson Stadium. This is the first series against a Northern Division opponent the Gnats have hosted at Historic Grayson Stadium in 2011.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 9, 2011


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