Gnats Game Notes: Southern Division Championship Series Game 2
Published on September 10, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (75-64) vs. Greenville Drive (77-62)
Division Series #2 - Friday - 7:05
RHP Taylor Whitenton (8-9, 4.57) vs. RHP Chris Balcom-Miller (7-7, 3.30) Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA
Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com
Tonight: The First-Half Champion Gnats play game two of the best-of-three Southern Division Championship Series against the Second-Half Champion Greenville Drive. The Gnats must win tonight to force a winner take-all game three Saturday night. Tate Law Group presents tonight's Vuvuzela giveaway for the first 1,000 fans.
Game One: The Drive scored five runs in the third inning on their way to an 8-3 win. Savannah scored an unearned run in the top of the first for a brief 1-0 lead. Twice in the regular season, the Drive scored eight runs against the Gnats. RF Cody Holliday was 4-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored.
Now Pitching: Taylor Whitenton, who started 18 games for Savannah during the regular season, will throw tonight. In his final three regular season starts, Whitenton was 0-3 with an ERA of 11.92 (15 ER/11.1) with 13 strikeouts, nine walks and 23 hits allowed. However in his three starts before that, from August 8-19, he was 3-0 with an ERA of 0.00 in 17.1 innings with 24 strikeouts, eight walks, eight hits and just one unearned run allowed. At home in the regular season, Whitenton had a 2.25 ERA, opponents hit .212 against him and he walked 4.15 batters per nine innings. On the road, Whitenton had a 6.71 ERA, opponents hit .308, and walked 7.03 batter per nine innings. Whitenton finished the regular season with 68 walks, the second-most in the league. Last year, Whitenton threw five scoreless innings over four games in the Gulf Coast League, striking out seven, walking five and yielding just one hit. The Mets drafted Whitenton in the 39th round of the 2009 draft out of Darton (GA) College.
Hail Cesar: Cesar Puello, who was reinstated from the Savannah disabled list on Wednesday, is expected to make his first start since August 14 tonight. Puello was placed on the disabled list on August 26 with a lower back strain. He hit .346/.424/.430 (AVG/OBP/SLG) in the second half for Savannah, leading the SAL in batting average while placing second in OBP.
Vs. Greenville: The Gnats are 4-7 against Greenville, 2-3 at home and 2-4 on the road including the playoffs. The two teams played all 10 of their regular-season games in a 20-day span from June 29-July 18 this year.
Nice Nieves: Luis Nieves has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games going .410 (16-for-39) in those 10 games with four doubles, seven runs scored, three RBI, four walks and five strikeouts.
Torrid Torres: Catcher Juan Torres has hit safely in five of his last six games going 11-for-21 (.524) with three home runs and nine RBI. In the final five games of the regular season, he raised his batting average from .188 to .234.
About Chris Balcom-Miller: The Gnats faced Greenville starter Chris Balcom-Miller four times in the regular season, all when he was a member of the Asheville Tourists. Balcom-Miller was fifth in the SAL in ERA (3.30) and allowed the second-fewest baserunners per nine innings (9.65). He was 2-2 with a 4.81 ERA (13 ER/24.1 IP) with 28 strikeouts and seven walks versus the Gnats. Balcom-Miller was traded from the Rockies to the Red Sox on August 31 for reliever Manny Delcarmen. On July 8th in Asheville, Balcom-Miller gave up a season-high six runs on eight hits to the Gnats. In his two starts in Grayson Stadium, Balcom-Miller was 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA (5 R/13 IP). In 13 innings in Savannah, he gave up six hits, four walks and struck out 14.
The Best of the Mets: The Gnats finished 2010 at 75-64, their most wins in a season since going 82-55 in 1994 as a Cardinals affiliate. The last Mets affiliate to make the SAL playoffs was the 2005 Hagerstown Suns, who beat Delmarva 2-1 in the Northern Division Finals before falling 3-1 to Kannapolis in the SAL Championship series.
Playoff History: Savannah has won 10 SAL Championships, most recently, capturing the 1996 SAL Championship. Savannah won three titles in four years, emerging with the League title in 1993 and 1994. Savannah's first SAL Championship: 1906.
South Atlantic League Stories from September 10, 2010
- 'Dads stay alive, top BlueClaws 2-1 in 10-inning Game Two - Hickory Crawdads
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- Drive Headed Back to Sally League Championship Series - Greenville Drive
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- Gnats Game Notes: Southern Division Championship Series Game 2 - Savannah Sand Gnats
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