Gnats Game Notes: Tuesday, May 3 at Lakewood

Published on May 3, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Savannah Sand Gnats (10-14, 4th, Southern) vs. Lakewood BlueClaws (10-14, 7th, Northern)

Game #25 -

Road Game #16 - Tuesday - 6:35

RHP Gonzalez Germen (1-1, 5.68) vs. RHP Garrett Claypool (0-1, 2.00)

FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood, NJ

Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com

Tonight: The Gnats, SAL affiliate of the New York Mets, look for a sweep in the final game of their four-game series in Lakewood against the BlueClaws, SAL affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Tonight will be the final game of a nine-game road trip to Delmarva and Lakewood on which the Gnats are 3-5. Savannah returns home for Thirsty Thursday, on Thursday, May 5th.

Last Night: Erik Goeddel turned in his best start as a Gnat holding the BlueClaws scoreless in his six innings of work. He allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out nine, setting a new season-high for strikeouts in a game by a Gnats pitcher. C Blake Forsythe was 2-4 and doubled home the Gnats' first run in the second inning. RF Javier Rodriguez hit his fourth homerun, a solo shot in the ninth, for the team's third run.

Now Pitching: RHP Gonzalez Germen is scheduled to make his fifth appearance and his third start tonight. In his last appearance in relief of Chase Huchingson last Thursday, Germen gave up a hit and a walk in one inning in a tie game which was then suspended by rain for an hour and forty-four minutes. The Delmarva Shorebirds scored five runs against the reliever, Gabriel Zavala, who followed Germen. In his last start, he held the Lexington Legends to one run on five hits in five innings. Germen spent most of the 2010 season with Kingsport in the Appalachian League where he was 2-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 61 innings over 10 starts. He struck out 54 and walked 11 for a healthy K/BB ratio of 4.9. He made two starts with Savannah to finish out the year. On August 27th, in his Savannah debut, in game two of a double-header, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and a shutout into the seventh.

Rodriguez on a Roll: By going 1-4 Monday, Aderlin Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to a team-high nine straight games. He's hitting .289 (11-for-38) with two doubles and five home runs in his last nine contests with a .737 slugging percentage. Rodriguez is part of a four-way tie for tenth in the SAL with his five homeruns.

Sweep Dreams: With a win tonight, the Gnats will sweep the four-game series from the BlueClaws. Savannah last swept a series when they took three in a row from Rome last June 14-16, outscoring the Braves 25-5. The Gnats last swept a four-game series May 12-15, when they outscored Rome 20-7. The Gnats last swept a four-game series on the road April 16-19, 2009 at Augusta, by a combined score of 30-6.

Cory's Cuts: Cory Vaughn leads the Gnats in average (.310), on-base percentage (.410) and slugging, among those who have played ten games or more, (.440). He is hitting .333 (10 H/30 AB) with three doubles and two RBI on the team's current road trip. Baseball Prospectus ranked Vaughn as the Mets' #9 prospect entering the season, while Baseball America ranked him #15.

Pitch to Win: Savannah pitching has allowed just four runs in the first three games of the series, the fewest the team has allowed in any three-game span in 2011. Their previous low for a three-game stretch was nine runs in the three games from April 14-16, all wins. Last night, for the ninth time this season, Gnats pitching held their opponents to three runs or fewer. Savannah is 7-2 in such contests and 10-4 when holding the opposition to five runs or fewer. The Gnats are 0-10 when their opponent scores six runs or more. Gnats pitching gave up six runs or more in six of the seven games on Savannah's seven-game losing streak which the team snapped Saturday.

Vs. Lakewood: The Gnats are 3-0 against the BlueClaws this year. The two teams split the four-game series 2-2 in 2010.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from May 3, 2011


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.

OurSports Central