Gnats Game Notes: Saturday, July 31 Vs. Augusta
July 31, 2010 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (13-21/55-49, 7th, Southern) vs. Augusta GreenJackets (18-15/59-44, 3rd, Southern)
Game #105 - Home Game #52 - Saturday - 6:05
RHP Armando Rodriguez (5-6, 3.39) vs. RHP Brian Irving (6-3, 4.52)
Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA
Radio: WBMQ News/Talk 630, sandgnats.com
Tonight: The first-half-champion Gnats will try to snap a three-game skid in game three of their four-game series against the Augusta GreenJackets. The Gnats have dropped nine of their last 12 games.
Last Night: The GreenJackets ripped Collin McHugh for seven runs in the first inning and nine runs in 1.2 innings on their way to handing Savannah its worst defeat of the year by a final score of 15-2.
Now Pitching: Armando Rodriguez is scheduled to make his team-leading 21 st start for Savannah. For the year, Rodriguez's opponents' batting average of .213 is the fifth-best in the SAL. In his last start, Rodriguez gave up six runs, five earned in 5.1 innings in Savannah's 9-8 10-inning loss in Lexington. The Gnats are 10-10 when Rodriguez throws and have supported him with 4.80 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. Augusta: Savannah is 6-12 against Augusta this year, 1-5 at home and 5-7 on the road. The Gnats are 24-41 against Augusta since becoming a Mets affiliate prior to the 2007 season.
Puello Power: After a 1-2 game with two walks and his first triple of the season last night, Cesar Puello has hit safely in a season-best nine straight and 17 of his last 18 games. Over his nine-game streak, he's hitting .429 (15-35) with two doubles, a triple, a home run, four walks and two strikeouts. His .449 OBP in July is second in the league behind Chris McGuiness (.477) of Greenville. He stole home for the second time this year as part of a double steal last night, and now is tied for second in the league with 40 stolen bases, four behind Jeremy Hazelbaker of Greenville who leads the league with 44.
New Half: In the first half, while going 42-28, Gnats' pitching allowed just 3.3 runs per game while the offense scored 4.7 runs per contest. In the second half, the team's scoring is down to 4.0 runs per game, while Savannah pitching is allowing more runs, an average of 4.8 runs per game. In the first half, the Gnats averaged 1.4 more runs per game than their opponent, while in the second half, they are averaging 0.8 runs per game less than the opposition.
OUCH: Last night, Gnats pitching allowed the most runs (15) and the most hits (20) of any game this season while the 13-run margin of defeat was the Gnats' worst. The 15 runs Savannah allowed were the most since yielding 15 on June 20, 2004 at Columbus.
Dirty Dozen: At 3-9 in their last 12 games, the Gnats have been outscored by a combined 33 runs, 80-47. Gnats' pitching has given up seven runs or more seven times in those 12 games, all of which were losses.
Home Cooking? The Gnats are 5-11 at home in the second half, the worst home record in the league, after going 24-11 at home in the first half, the best home record of any team in the league.
Still at the Top: The Gnats lead the SAL in ERA (2.90), strikeouts (891) and innings pitched (963.1). In the first half, the Gnats had a 2.52 ERA, so their team ERA has gone up by 0.38 in the last 34 games. Last night's 13 earned runs moved the team ERA up .09.
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 31, 2010
- Crawdads come back to top Intimidators, 7-4 - Hickory Crawdads
- Murton Steers RiverDogs Past Drive, Seals Sweep, 6-4 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Legends Walk Off With 11th Inning Win Over Delmarva, 7-6 - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Rodriguez Shuts Down âJackets In 5-0 Win - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Suns Fall In Second Straight One-Run Game to Grasshoppers - Hagerstown Suns
- Crawdads Take Game Three 7-4 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Claws Held to Four Hits, Fall 4-0 to West Virginia - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- GreenJackets Can't Swat Gnats, Blanked 5-0 - Augusta GreenJackets
- Gnats Game Notes: Saturday, July 31 Vs. Augusta - Savannah Sand Gnats
- RiverDogs Infielder Jimmy Paredes Traded to Houston - Charleston RiverDogs
- Shorebirds Game Notes - Delmarva Shorebirds
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