Gnats Game Notes: Saturday, August 13 Vs. Greenville

August 13, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Savannah Sand Gnats (30-17/69-47, 1st, Southern) vs. Greenville Drive (26-20/64-52, 2nd, Southern)

Game #117- Home Game #61 - Saturday - 6:05

RHP Yohan Almonte (6-6, 3.84) vs. RHP Scott Swinson (3-3, 3.27)

Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA

Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com

Tonight: The first-half champion Gnats, who have won two straight games, finish a four-game series against the Greenville Drive, SAL affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Asheville Tourists, SAL affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, make their only visit to Savannah Sunday-Wednesday.

Last Night: C Blake Forsythe drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to force home 2B Luis Nieves with the winning run in a 5-4 Gnats' win. The Drive evened the game in the top of the ninth on SS Xander Bogaerts' 12th home run of the year.

Now Pitching: Yohan Almonte is scheduled to make his 19th start of the year tonight. Almonte struck out five without walking a batter while giving up three runs on four hits in four innings of relief in the Gnats' 7-3 win in Charleston last Sunday. In the first half, Almonte walked four of the 168 batters he faced for a rate of 2.3%, but in the second half, he has walked 17 of the 193 batters he has faced, a rate of 8.8% where the SAL average is 8.5%. Almonte pitched to a 3.50 ERA in the first half, which risen to 4.13 in the second half. In 2010, Almonte led the New York-Penn League in ERA (1.91), IP (89.2) and WHIP (0.93), averaging nearly six innings per start. He had the second-lowest batting average against among New York-Penn League starters at .207 and the third-lowest unintentional walk/9 IP (1.41) with a K/BB ratio of 4 (60 K/15 BB). The Mets signed Almonte as a non-drafted free agent in 2007. The Gnats are 9-9 when Almonte starts and have supported him with 3.72 runs per game, the third-lowest run support of any Savannah starter.

Four or Five for the Win: The Gnats have scored five runs in each of their last two wins over Greenville. Savannah is now 25-3 at home in 2011 when scoring four runs or more in a game.

Walk With Me: The Gnats and Greenville drive are tied for seventh in the South Atlantic League with 373 walks drawn. Greenville has drawn ten walks in the three games of this series while the Gnats have earned four, including the game winner last night... In related news, all three games of the series have been played within four minutes of the three-hour mark.

Totally Tovar: Wilfredo Tovar has hit safely in his last seven games, going 11-for-28 (.393) with two doubles, two walks and four RBI. Tovar hit .236/.287/.293 in 65 games in the first half and .240/.325/.281 in the second half. He walked 16 times in the first half - a rate of 6.1% - but has earned 19 walks in the second half - a rate of 9.5%.

Playoff Scenario: The Gnats will play the number two seed in the best-of-three Southern Division Championship series beginning on the road on Wednesday, September 7 and returning to Savannah on Friday, September 9, with game three, if necessary, scheduled for Saturday, September 10. The number two seed will be the second half winner, or if the Gnats win the half, the team with the next best overall record. The Gnats currently lead the second half standings by 2.5 games over the Augusta GreenJackets, 3.5 games over the Greenville Drive, and 4.0 games over the Asheville Tourists with 23 games to play in the half. If the Gnats win the second half, their first-round opponent will be the team with the next-best overall record where the Greenville Drive are currently six games better than the GreenJackets and seven in front of Asheville. Augusta has won seven games in a row and is scheduled for five games with the Drive, August 26-30.

Strong Arms: The Gnats still lead the SAL in ERA (3.18), WHIP (1.22) and fewest hits allowed (889). The Gnats are fifth in the SAL in strikeouts (913), and have allowed the seventh-fewest walks in the SAL (362). The Drive are second in the SAL with 985 strikeouts and have allowed the third-fewest walks (314).

Vs. Greenville: The Gnats are 8-7 against the Drive in 2011, 8-3 at home and 0-4 on the road. Greenville has outscored Savannah 70-50 in the teams' 15 head-to-head meetings this year.



South Atlantic League Stories from August 13, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central