Gnats Game Notes: Monday, August 1 Vs. Augusta

August 1, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Savannah Sand Gnats (23-13/62-43, 1st, Southern) vs. Augusta GreenJackets (19-16/50-55, 3rd, Southern)

Game #106 - Home Game #54 - Monday - 7:05

LHP Angel Cuan (9-1, 3.02) vs. LHP Ryan Bradley (1-1, 4.87)

Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA

Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com

Today: The first-half champion Gnats begin a quick four-game home stand against the Augusta GreenJackets. The Gnats take off for Charleston over the weekend, and after an off-day on Tuesday, open an eight-game home stand August 10.

Sunday: The Gnats tied a season high with 13 runs in blowing out the Greensboro Grasshoppers 13-1 to earn a split in the teams' four-game series. LF Alonzo Harris was 5-5 with two doubles and three runs scored, while 3B Aderlin Rodriguez pounded his 13th home run of the season.

Now Pitching: LHP Angel Cuan is scheduled to make his eighth start of 2011 today after moving into the rotation after the All-Star Break. He has thrown six innings in each of his last six starts and just once in his seven starts has he allowed more than two earned runs. As a reliever he had an ERA of 3.65 in 44.1 IP, but as a starter, he owns a 2.31 ERA in 39 innings. He had a K/BB ratio of 6.33 (40 K/6 BB) as a reliever, which he has improved to 9.67 (29 K/3 BB) as a starter. His walk rate as a reliever of 1.22 BB-IBB/9 IP was the fourth-best among relievers in the SAL. Last year, Cuan was second only to teammate Yohan Almonte in the New-York Penn League with a 2.03 ERA. He was fifth in the NYP in strikeouts (64) and fourth in innings pitched (79.2) and fewest baserunners/9 IP (9.94). Cuan went five innings or more in 13 of his 14 starts in Brooklyn in 2010. Cuan pitched for his native Panama in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Gnats are 7-0 when Cuan starts and have supported him with 5.43 runs per game (38 runs/7 games), the best run support among Savannah starters.

Bats Come Alive: The Gnats offense collected 20 runs on 30 hits in the last two games in Greensboro.

Formidable Forsythe: Blake Forsythe, who doubled again Sunday, now has eight doubles in his last nine contests. After hitting .220/.295/.353 (AVG/OBP/SLG) in 173 AB over 50 games in the first half, he's up to .283/.426/.478 in 92 AB over 27 games in the second half. His 14 second-half extra-base hits are just one shy of his 15 from the first half total in 23 fewer games. His isolated slugging percentage, a measure of a batter's power, calculated by subtracting batting average from slugging, has risen from .113 in the first half to .195 in the second half where the SAL average is .133.

Go Zo! After going 5-for-5 with two doubles yesterday, LF Alonzo Harris has seven extra-base hits in his last nine games. He's hit .417 (15 H/36 AB) in his last 10 games and just finished a July in which he hit .313/.346/.455 in 27 games in July.

Playoff Scenario: The first-half champion Gnats will play the second-half winner in the best-of-three Southern Division series beginning on the road September 7 and returning to Savannah on September 9. The Gnats currently lead the second half standings by 3.0 games over the Greenville Drive and 3.5 over the Augusta GreenJackets. If the Gnats win the second half, their first-round opponent will be the team with the next-best overall record: the Greenville Drive are currently 7.5 games better than both the Tourists and the GreenJackets.

Strong Arms: The Gnats still lead the SAL in ERA at 3.16, 40 hundredths better than second-best Hickory. The Gnats also lead the League in WHIP (1.21), and fewest hits allowed (803) - 22 fewer than second-best Hickory. The Gnats are fifth in the SAL in strikeouts (829), 24 behind fourth-place Lakewood.

Vs. Augusta: The Gnats are 12-5 against the GreenJackets, 6-1 at home and 6-4 on the road. This series concludes the season series between the two teams, the first division opponent to finish their season series between the two teams.



South Atlantic League Stories from August 1, 2011


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