Gnats Game Notes: Saturday, July 24 at Lexington
Published on July 24, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (11-17/53-45, 7th, Southern) @ Lexington Legends (14-14/49-49, 4th, Southern)
Game #99 - Road Game #50 - Saturday - 7:05
RHP Armando Rodriguez (5-6, 3.12) vs. RHP Zach Grimmett (4-0, 2.74)
Applebee's Park, Lexington, KY
Radio: WBMQ News/Talk 630, sandgnats.com
Tonight: The first-half-champion Gnats begin a four-game series in Lexington, Kentucky against the Lexington Legends, the SAL affiliate of the Houston Astros. Savannah starts a four-game series at home against Augusta on Thursday, July 29.
Last Night: R.J. Harris doubled home two runs in the Gnats' three-run top of the tenth to help Savannah beat West Virginia 6-3 in 10 innings. Harris scored on Dock Doyle's RBI double. The win snapped Savannah's season-worst five-game losing streak. It was the second straight night that Harris had a multi-RBI extra-base hit in extra innings after his two-run triple in the top of the 12th inning on Thursday night.
Now Pitching: Armando Rodriguez is scheduled to make his team-leading 20th start for Savannah. Since May 1, Rodriguez is 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA (23 ER/74.2 IP) and has allowed opponents to hit just .196 (53 H/270 AB). For the year, Rodriguez's opponents' batting average of .207 is the second-best in the SAL. In his last start, Rodriguez gave up four runs, three earned in six innings in Savannah's 4-2 loss to Greenville. The Gnats are 10-9 when Rodriguez throws and have supported him with 4.63 runs per game, the fourth-most among the eight pitchers who have started for Savannah in 2010. With Kingsport a year ago, he was 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 20 walks in 45.2 innings. Promoted to Savannah on August 27th, he finished the year with a dominant three-start performance in which he allowed just five hits in 16.2 innings and struck out 24. The Mets signed Rodriguez as a non-drafted free agent June 6, 2007.
Vs. Lexington: The Gnats are 4-0 against Lexington after sweeping four games from the Legends at Historic Grayson Stadium, April 28-May 1, by a combined score of 20-7.
Roster Update: The Gnats made four roster moves on Saturday: CF Pedro Zapata was promoted to advanced-A St. Lucie, RHP Samuel Martinez was placed on the disabled list with a strained right foot, SS Robbie Shields was transferred from St. Lucie and C Patrick Farrell was promoted from Rookie level Kingsport in the Appalachian League.
New Guys: Robbie Shields hit .244/.330/.341 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with five doubles in 23 games in the Gulf Coast League this year while rehabbing and was 2-for-7 (.286) in two games with St. Lucie. Patrick Farrell was 5-for-19 (.263) with one home run, zero walks and eight strikeouts in five games for rookie level Kingsport in the Appalachian League.
Zap: Pedro Zapata hit his second home run as a Gnat last night and was promoted to St. Lucie today. Zapata hit over .300 in both June and July for Savannah.
New Half: In the first half, while going 42-28, Gnats' pitching allowed just 3.31 runs per game while the offense scored 4.7 runs per contest. In the second half, the team has allowed 122 runs in 18 games or 6.78 runs per game, over twice the rate as the first half. Savannah's scoring is up too: the second half team is averaging 6.22 runs per game with 112 runs scored in 18 games. Gnats pitching gave up 27 runs, 6.75 runs per game during the four games against West Virginia.
Armed and Dangerous: The Gnats lead the SAL with a 2.79 ERA and 845 strikeouts. At the end of the first half, the Gnats had a 2.52 ERA, so the team ERA has risen by a little over a quarter of a run (0.27) in 28 games.
Playoffs: 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.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 24, 2010
- Suns Shocked By Power 9-1 - Hagerstown Suns
- Crawdads drop series opener in Augusta - Hickory Crawdads
- Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short - Rome Emperors
- 11-Run Third Keys Runaway Jackets Win - Augusta GreenJackets
- Great Pitching, Hitting as Intimidators Win 14-0 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Greensboro's Six-Run Fifth Sends Charleston to Third Straight Loss, 7-4 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Gnats Game Notes: Saturday, July 24 at Lexington - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Tonight's Game Moved to 7:45 PM - Hagerstown Suns
- Shorebirds Game Notes - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Jordan Zimmermann to Rehab with Hagerstown Suns July 26th - Hagerstown Suns
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