Gnats Game Notes: Thursday, July 28 at Greensboro
Published on July 28, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (21-11/60-41, 1st, Southern) @ Greensboro Grasshoppers (15-17/55-47, 5th, Northern)
Game #102 - Road Game #49 - Thursday - 7:00 pm
RHP Yohan Almonte (4-5, 3.49) vs. LHP Greg Nappo (1-0, 5.40)
NewBridge Bank Park, Greensboro, NC
Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com
Tonight: The first-half champion Gnats look for their seventh win in the first game of a four-game set in Greensboro, NC against the Greensboro Grasshoppers, SAL affiliate of the Houston Astros. The Gnats finished their recent home stand at 6-1.
Last Game: The Gnats beat the Lexington Legends 2-0 Tuesday morning behind six shutout inning from Angel Cuan who allowed just one infield hit while tying a Gnats' season-high with nine strikeouts.
Now Pitching: Yohan Almonte is scheduled to make his 17th start of the year tonight. Almonte is coming off one of his best outings of the year, when he held West Virginia to one unearned run in seven innings in Savannah's 3-1 win last Friday. Almonte has walked 1.80 batters/9 IP, which would be good enough for third among SAL starting pitchers. After tonight's start, he will need 6.2 innings to appear on the league leader board tomorrow morning. In 2010, Almonte led the New York-Penn League in ERA (1.91), IP (89.2) and WHIP (0.93), averaging nearly six innings per start. He had the second-lowest batting average against among New York-Penn League starters at .207 and the third-lowest unintentional walk/9 IP (1.41) with a K/BB ratio of 4 (60 K/15 BB). The Mets signed Almonte as a non-drafted free agent in 2007. The Gnats are 8-8 when Almonte starts and have supported him with 3.31 runs per game.
Six Straight: The Gnats have won six straight games over the West Virginia Power and the Lexington Legends by a combined score of 24-15. It is the Gnats' second-longest winning streak of the second half after winning 11 in a row from June 25 through July 5. The Gnats have three winning streaks of six games or longer this year.
Fernandez Turns a Corner: Rafael Fernandez was 0-for-11 over the Gnats' three games against the West Virginia Power but rebounded to go 7-for-17 with two doubles and three RBI in the four games against Lexington.
Close Calls: All seven games on the Gnats' home stand were decided by one or two runs; including four one-run games, and three two-run contests. The Gnats are 18-4 in one-run games at home and 21-12 overall. Savannah is 40-22 in games decided by two runs or less, and 32-9 at home and 8-13 on the road in such contests.
Through 101: Through 101 games this year, the Gnats are 60-41. Last year, after winning the first half, Savannah was 55-46. The Gnats went on to finish 75-64 in 2010, their most wins as a Mets affiliate.
Division Data: The Gnats are 13-18 against the Northern Division in 2011 in 2011, and 5-11 on the road. The Gnats played 16 of their first 25 games of the season on the road against Northern Division teams, but none since May 3. This is the Savannah's only road series against a Northern Division in the second half and the last time the Gnats will play a Northern Division team in the regular season.
Strong Arms: The Gnats still lead the SAL in ERA at 3.15, 49 hundredths better than second-best Lakewood. The Gnats also lead the League in WHIP (1.21), and fewest hits allowed (774) - 25 fewer than second-best Hickory. The Gnats are fifth in the SAL in strikeouts (794).
Vs. Greensboro: The Gnats are 1-3 against the Grasshoppers all at home. Greensboro is the only team to win a series over the Gnats at Historic Grayson Stadium in the second half where the Gnat' series record is 4-1.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 28, 2011
- Hoppers Snap Gnats Win Streak 7-6 Thursday - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Shorebirds Edge Suns in Road Opener - Hagerstown Suns
- Legends Hold off Rome, Win Series Opener 7-5 - Lexington Legends
- Drive Erase Six-Run Deficit, Defeat RiverDogs 13-8 in Slugfest - Greenville Drive
- Shorebirds Sneak Past Suns, 5-4, in Game One - Delmarva Shorebirds
- 'Dads Sting GreenJackets, 5-3 - Hickory Crawdads
- Intimidators Ruin Tourists Vacation with Walk off - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Bats Silent in Fourth Straight Loss - Augusta GreenJackets
- Drive Enter Third Gear, Roar Past R'Dogs, 13-8 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Power Double up BlueClaws - Charleston Dirty Birds
- BlueClaws Drop Series Opener to West Virginia - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Gnats Game Notes: Thursday, July 28 at Greensboro - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
