Gnats Game Notes: Sunday, September 5 Vs. Asheville
September 5, 2010 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (31-36/73-64, 6th, Southern) vs. Asheville Tourists (40-28/69-68, 2nd, Southern)
Game #138 - Home Game #68 - Sunday - 6:05
LHP Darin Gorski (5-8, 4.75) vs. LHP Tyler Matzek (5-1, 2.95)
Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA
Radio: News/Talk 630; sandgnats.com
Tonight: The first-half-champion Gnats play the second-to-last game of the 2010 regular season against the Asheville Tourists, who are still fighting for a playoff berth. The Gnats, warming up for their first playoff berth in 14 years, have won seven of their last nine games.
Last Night: The Tourists stayed alive in the playoff chase by beating the Gnats 6-2.
Now Pitching: Darin Gorski is scheduled to make his 18th start for the Gnats tonight. Gorski has given up at least seven runs in each of his last four starts. In those four starts, he's given up 33 hits, 29 runs, 22 earned runs, three home runs, 10 walks and struck out 19 in 17 innings. The Gnats are 7-10 when Gorski starts and have supported him with 5.12 runs per game, the second-most among Savannah starters. Last year for the Brooklyn Cyclones, Gorski was 3-4 with a 4.91 ERA in 62.1 innings over 13 appearances, 11 of which were starts. He struck out 50 batters and walked 26. The Mets selected Gorski in the 7th round of the 2009 draft out of Kutztown (PA) University where he earned the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Pitcher of the Year Award in 2009, his junior year. In 2009, Gorski led the Kutztown Golden Bears in strikeouts (100), innings pitched (78.2) and batting average against (.208). He was 10th in Division II in strikeouts.
Homers for Torres: Juan Torres homered last night, his third home run in his last four games. Torres did not homer in his first 37 games with Savannah or in 28 games in 2009 split between the Gulf Coast League and Kingsport. Before his home run on September 1, his last home run was June 26, 2008 in the Gulf Coast League. He hit a career-high five homers in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2007.
Robbie Rips: Robbie Shields has hit safely in six straight games. He's hit .458 (12-for-28) with a double, two home runs, seven runs and eight RBI in his last six.
Nice Nieves: Luis Nieves has hit safely in six of his last seven games going .393 (11-for-28) in those seven games with two doubles, five runs scored and three RBI.
Playoff Chase: With two games to play, the Greenville Drive are a game and a half in front of Asheville for first place and the right to face the Gnats in the first round of the SAL playoffs. The Drive have a magic number of one to clinch the second half title, so Greenville will clinch with one more win, or one more Asheville loss. The Gnats are 8-12 against Asheville and 4-6 against Greenville.
Vs. Asheville: Savannah is 8-12 against Asheville, 4-7 at home and 4-5 on the road.
Playoff History: Savannah will play its first playoff game Wednesday since winning the 1996 SAL Championship. Savannah won three titles in four years, emerging with the League title in 1993 and 1994.
The Best of the Mets: The Gnats, at 73 wins, have set a new high as a Mets affiliate. The last time Savannah won as many as 73 games in a season was 2000, when the Gnats finished 74-65 as a Texas Rangers affiliate.
Playoff Schedule: By virtue of winning the first half, the Gnats will have home-field advantage in the Southern Division Championship Series. The second half winner, either Greenville or Asheville, will host game one on Wednesday, September 8 before the series returns to Savannah for game two on Friday, September 10. Game three, if necessary, will be Saturday, September 11. The Southern Division Champion will host games one and two of the best-of-five SAL Championship Series September 13 and 14.
South Atlantic League Stories from September 5, 2010
- Crawdads Stop Drive with 4-3 Win - Hickory Crawdads
- Vargas Drives in Three, Leads Intimidators to 4-2 Win - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Gnats Eliminate Tourists with 5-1 Win Sunday - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Vargas Singles Intimidators to Win in 10th 4-2 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Drive Clinch 2nd Half Southern Division Title - Greenville Drive
- Power Lifted by Walk-Off Homer in Extra Frame - Hagerstown Suns
- Shriner Home Run Powers GreenJackets to 3-2 Win - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Dogs Score Early, Not Often, in 3-2 Victory Over Greensboro - Charleston RiverDogs
- Power Short Circuit Hagerstown 4-3 on Sunday - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Ninth Inning Homer Seals Third Straight Win - Augusta GreenJackets
- Legends Top Braves 9-3 as Goebbert Breaks RBI Mark - Lexington Legends
- Marshall Promoted to Tampa; Martinez Transferred to Charleston - Charleston RiverDogs
- Gnats Game Notes: Sunday, September 5 Vs. Asheville - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Keep Celebrating After the Season with the RiverDogs - Charleston RiverDogs
- Shorebirds Game Notes - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Suns See Power Outage, Shut out in Game 2 - Hagerstown Suns
- Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
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