Gnats Game Notes: Thursday, September 2 at Greensboro
Published on September 2, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (29-35/71-63, 6th, Southern) Greensboro Grasshoppers (33-32/65-70), 2nd, Northern)
Game #135 - Road Game #70 - Thursday - 7:00
RHP Armando Rodriguez (7-9, 3.19) vs. RHP Matthew Montgomery (11-11, 2.94)
NewBridge Bank Park, Greensboro, N.C.
Radio: News/Talk 630; sandgnats.com
Tonight: The first-half-champion Gnats play their final regular-season road game of 2010 tonight in Greensboro. The Gnats finish the home portion of their regular season with a four-game series against Asheville Friday-Monday, September 3-6.
Last Night: The Gnats crushed the Grasshoppers 11-0. The 11-run win was their largest margin of victory in the second half. Collin McHugh tossed six shutout innings with five strikeouts and now walks. On the offensive side, DH Robbie Shields reached base five times, going 3-4 with a double, two walks, two RBI and three runs scored.
Now Pitching: Armando Rodriguez is scheduled to make his 27th start of the year tonight in his final appearance before the playoffs. Rodriguez is fifth in the SAL in ERA (3.19), first in strikeouts (146), fourth in innings pitched (141.0), and fifth in opponents' batting average against (.218). Rodriguez has struck out at least nine batters in each of his last four starts. In those four, he is 1-2 with a 1.13 ERA (3 ER/24 IP) with 39 strikeouts against four walks. He's allowed opponents to hit .209 (19 H/91 AB) in those four starts. The Gnats are 12-14 when Rodriguez throws and have supported him with 4.12 runs per game, sixth among the nine pitchers who have started games 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.
Where the Runs Score: Last night, for the 13th time this year, the Gnats scored 10 runs or more. The Gnats have pounded out 32 runs in the first three games of their series. Savannah has scored 10 runs or more 11 times on the road, going 10-1 in those games. Savannah has scored 10 or more runs just twice at home going 2-0 in those contests. Overall this year, the Gnats have scored 3.72 runs per game at home (242 runs/65 games) and 5.23 runs per game on the road (361 runs/69 games).
Rockin' Robbie: Robbie Shields has enjoyed a big series against Greensboro. He's hit .571 (8-for-14) with a double, two home runs, six runs and six RBI.
Vs. Greensboro: The Gnats are 4-2 against the Grasshoppers this year. The Gnats are 9-9 against Greensboro as a Mets affiliate. The last time Savannah played more than four games against Greensboro was 2005, when they were 6-2 against the Grasshoppers.
Playoff Chase: The Greenville Drive beat Charleston 7-2 and picked up a game on the Asheville Tourists who lost 10-3 to Hickory. With five games to play, the 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 Gnats are 7-11 against Asheville and 4-6 against Greenville.
The Best of the Mets: The Gnats, at 71 wins, have set a new high as a Mets affiliate. Since Savannah lost one game to a rainout, the Gnats are guaranteed to finish with a winning record for the first time as a Mets farm team after finishing 41-94 in 2007, 61-76 in 2008 and 65-72 last year.
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 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 September 2, 2010
- Gnats Pound Greensboro Again in 12-2 Blowout - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Legends Score 2 in Eighth, Beat Hagerstown 8-6 - Lexington Legends
- 'Dads Fall in Series Finale in Asheville - Hickory Crawdads
- Kannapolis Downs Delmarva, 8-5, in Series Finale - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Irwin and Foster Throw Power to Shutout Win - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Intimidators Earn Series Split 8-5 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Britton, Bayer Combine for 1-0 Shutout of RiverDogs - Greenville Drive
- BlueClaws Take Three of Four from Augusta, Beat Jackets 4-1 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- RiverDogs E-Braked by Drive, Greenville Wins Series, 1-0 - Charleston RiverDogs
- BlueClaws Hit Trifecta in Sixth, Jackets Fall 4-1 - Augusta GreenJackets
- Gnats Series Preview: September 3-6 Vs. Asheville Tourists - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Murphy Placed on DL; Liccien Transferred to Charleston - Charleston RiverDogs
- RiverDogs & Fat Tire Collaborate for Fat Tire Friday & Bike Night - Charleston RiverDogs
- Gnats Game Notes: Thursday, September 2 at Greensboro - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Shorebirds Game Notes - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Where Will You be When the Turnstile Strikes 2.5 Million? - Greensboro Grasshoppers
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.
