Gnats Game Notes: Sunday, July 25 at Lexington

Published on July 25, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Savannah Sand Gnats (11-18/53-46, 7th, Southern) @ Lexington Legends (15-14/50-49, 4th, Southern)

Game #100 - Road Game #51 - Sunday - 2:05

LHP Jimmy Fuller (7-3, 2.06) vs. RHP Tanner Bushue (5-5, 4.55)

Applebee's Park, Lexington, KY

Radio: WBMQ News/Talk 630, sandgnats.com

Tonight: The first-half-champion Gnats play game two of their 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: The Gnats played their third extra-inning game in a row in falling 9-8 to the Legends. Savannah scored two runs in the top of the tenth inning, only to watch Lexington answer with three in the bottom half. Alonzo Harris was 3-4 with a walk from the leadoff spot.

Now Pitching: Jimmy Fuller is scheduled to make his 18th start as a Gnat. He is third in the SAL with a 2.06 ERA. Fuller gave up a season-high six runs, only three of which were earned in his last start, a three-inning performance that matched his shortest outing of the year. The Gnats are 13-4 when Fuller starts, and have supported him with 5.47 runs per game, the second-most among Savannah pitchers this year. Fuller, one of six Gnats selected to the SAL Southern Division All-Star team, is the only one who returned to Savannah for the second half. He was an All-Star a year ago with Brooklyn in 2009, when he was 3-6 with a 2.86 ERA in 12 games, 11 of which were starts for the Cyclones. He fanned 67 and issued 15 walks for a sterling K/BB ratio of 4.67. Fuller was a DII All-American in 2008 at Southern Connecticut State University where he led DII in strikeouts with 145, averaging 13 whiffs per nine innings. He also had a DII record streak of 59 scoreless innings in 2008. The Mets drafted Fuller in the 21th round in 2008.

Vs. Lexington: The Gnats are 4-1 against Lexington, 4-0 at home and 0-1 in Lexington. The Gnats swept four games from the Legends at Historic Grayson Stadium, April 28-May 1, by a combined score of 20-7.

Extra, Extra: The Gnats have played three straight extra-inning games and lost two out of three despite scoring two runs in the 12th inning Thursday, three runs in the 10th inning on Friday and two runs in the top of the 10th inning on Saturday. For the year, the Gnats are 9-8 in extra-inning games, 6-0 at home and 3-8 on the road.

New Guys: Both of the players who joined the Gnats roster Saturday played yesterday. SS Robbie Shields was 1-4 with two RBI, but committed two throwing errors including one in the bottom of the tenth when Lexington scored three times. DH Patrick Farrell was 2-5 with an RBI.

Skidding: After last night's loss, Savannah has lost nine of its last 12 games. In those 12 games, the Gnats have lost four one-run games and two two-run games. In five of their last six games, the Gants have given up seven runs or more, and lost each one.

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's scoring is down to 4.17 runs per game, while Savannah pitching is allowing more runs, an average of 4.52 runs per game.

Armed and Dangerous: The Gnats lead the SAL with a 2.81 ERA and 853 strikeouts. At the end of the first half, the Gnats had a 2.52 ERA, so the team's ERA has risen by over a quarter of a run (0.29) in 29 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.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 25, 2010


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