Gnats Game Notes: Tuesday, August 23 at Rome
Published on August 23, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (35-22/74-52, 1st, Southern) @ Rome Braves (35-22/52-74, 7th, Southern)
Game #127 - Road Game #62 - Tuesday - 7:00
RHP Yohan Almonte (7-6, 3.91) vs. RHP Willie Kempf (3-3, 3.89)
State Mutual Stadium, Rome, GA
Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com
Tonight: The first-half champion Gnats, who own the South Atlantic League's best record at 74-52, play game two of a four-game series in Rome. The Gnats are 2-3 on their current eight-game road trip. This weekend, the Gnats are scheduled to host the Charleston RiverDogs for five games Friday-Tuesday in the final home series of the regular season.
Last Night: The Braves edged the Gnats 4-3. Rome scored four runs, only two of which were earned, against Savannah starter Erik Goeddel in his five innings of work. Adam Kolarek lowered his ERA to 1.54 with three scoreless innings out of the Savannah bullpen.
Now Pitching: Yohan Almonte is scheduled to make his 21th start of the year tonight. Despite allowing five runs on six hits, including a pair of home runs, Almonte earned a win last Thursday when the Gnats beat the Greenville Drive 10-5 in game two of a doubleheader. He is second in the SAL in WHIP (1.12) and second among starters in total baserunners per 9 innings pitched (10.59). Almonte owns a 2.80 ERA at home in 54.2 innings over 10 starts and a 5.08 ERA in 51.1 innings in 10 starts and one relief appearance on the road. Eleven of the 15 homeruns he has given up this year have come on the road. In August, Almonte has fanned 20 batters in 20 innings pitched (9 K/9 IP) his highest strikeout rate of any month, surpassing his 6.8 K/9 (23 K/ 30.1 IP) in July. In the first half, Almonte walked four of the 168 batters he faced for a rate of 2.3%, but in the second half, he has walked 19 of the 257 batters he has faced, a rate of 7.4%, where the SAL average is 8.5%. 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 11-9 when Almonte starts and have supported him with 4.00 runs per game.
Fernandez on Fire: Rafael Fernandez is hitting .311/.404/.500 (AVG/OBP/SLG) in 20 games in August with five doubles, three triples and a home run. His nine triples in the 2011 season are second in the SAL.
Awesome Albert: Albert Cordero is fifth in the SAL in batting average in the second half, while hitting .335/.368/.463 with eight doubles, two triples and four homers in 48 games. He is hitting .268/.402/.539 in 19 games in August with five walks and seven strikeouts. His five walks are already his most in any month in 2011. He walked just four times in 45 games in the first half.
Terrific Tovar: Wilfredo Tovar is the third-toughest player in the SAL to strikeout with one whiff every 10.08 plate appearances. Tovar is hitting .301/.384/.397 in 19 games in August.
Playoff Scenario: The Gnats will play the number two seed in the best-of-three Southern Division Championship series beginning on the road on Wednesday, September 7, returning to Savannah on Friday, September 9, for game two, with game three, if necessary, scheduled for Saturday, September 10. The number two seed will be the second half winner, or if the Gnats win the half, the team with the next best overall record. The Gnats currently lead the second half standings by 2.0 games over the Augusta GreenJackets, and 4.5 games over the Greenville Drive with 13 games to play in the half. In terms of overall record, the Greenville Drive are currently 5.5 games better than the GreenJackets with the two teams are scheduled for five games August 26-30.
Strong Arms: The Gnats still lead the SAL in ERA (3.16), WHIP (1.21) and fewest hits allowed (963). The Gnats are fifth in the SAL in strikeouts (976), and have allowed the sixth-fewest walks in the SAL (388). Three Gnats, Gonzalez Germen (3.40), Ryan Fraser (3.50) and Angel Cuan(3.50), are in the top 10 in the SAL in ERA. Taylor Whitenton's 2.70 ERA would be good enough to lead the SAL, but he is currently one inning short of qualifying for the league leader board.
Vs. Rome: The Gnats are 15-5 against the Braves this year, 8-3 at home and 7-2 on the road. Savannah's 15 wins against Rome are tied with their 15 victories against Augusta for their most against any single opponent this year.
South Atlantic League Stories from August 23, 2011
- Suns' Nieto Leads Rout of Crawdads 13-8 - Hagerstown Suns
- Legends Join 'Race for the Cure' with Celebration - Lexington Legends
- GreenJackets Drop Second Straight in Extras - Augusta GreenJackets
- Suns Heat up for 13-8 Win Against 'Dads - Hickory Crawdads
- Pena's Slam, Nash's 5 RBI Send Legends Past Tourists 13-5 - Lexington Legends
- BlueClaws Shutout Shorebirds 3-0 in Game Two - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Drive Drown 'Dogs in Doubleheader Sweep - Greenville Drive
- Drive Ease Past RiverDogs in Doubleheader Sweep - Charleston RiverDogs
- BlueClaws Shutout Shorebirds 3-0 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Dominant Performance by Kempf Silences First Place Savannah - Rome Emperors
- Gnats Game Notes: Tuesday, August 23 at Rome - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Kahnle Reinstated from 7-Day DL - Charleston RiverDogs
- Shorebirds Release Schedule for 2012 Season - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Tourists Hold on to Beat Legends 5-4 - Lexington Legends
- Crawdads Top Strasburg and Suns, 3-1 - Hickory Crawdads
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