Gnats Game Notes
June 15, 2010 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (38-26, 2nd, Southern) vs. Rome Braves (26-37, 7th, Southern)
Game #65 - Home Game #34 - Tuesday - 7:05
LHP Jimmy Fuller (5-2, 2.13) vs. RHP Caleb Brewer (1-0, 0.00)
Historic Grayson Stadium - Savannah, GA
Radio: WBMQ News/Talk 630, sandgnats.com
Tonight: The Gnats play game two of a their three-game series against the Rome Braves in the final home series of the season's first half. The Gnats remain one game behind first place Augusta with six games to play in the season's first half. Savannah finishes the first half with four games in Augusta, Thursday-Sunday, looking for their first playoff berth since 1996.
Last Night: The Gnats overcame an early 2-0 deficit to blast their way by the Braves with a 10-4 win. It was the first time that Savannah has scored ten runs at home this year. Savannah only scored nine runs at home once, on Opening Night, April 8 in a 9-3 win over West Virginia.
Now Pitching: Jimmy Fuller will make his 13th start as a Gnat. Fuller is coming off his shortest outing of the year in which he lasted just three innings and gave up a season-high five runs against Kannapolis last Tuesday in a game the Gnats came back to win 8-7 in 10 innings. He is eighth in the SAL with a 2.13 ERA and third in strikeouts (72). The Gnats are 10-2 when Fuller starts, an .833 winning percentage, their best with any starting pitcher. Savannah has supported him with 5.0 runs per game, third-most among Savannah's starters. Fuller, one of six Gnats selected to the SAL Southern Division All-Star team, will be making back-to-back appearances as an All-Star after earning the honor a year ago with Brooklyn. With Brooklyn in 2009, he was 3-6 with a 2.86 ERA in 12 games, 11 of which were starts with 67 strikeouts against 15 walks for a sterling K/BB ratio of 4.67. Fuller was a DII All-American in 2008 at Southern Connecticut State University where he led DII in strikeouts with 145, averaging 13 whiffs per nine innings. He also had a streak of 59 scoreless innings in 2008.
Vs. Rome: The Gnats are 10-3 against Rome this year, 5-0 at home and 5-3 in Rome. The two teams are scheduled for 23 games this season. The Gnats and Braves split the season series 11-11 last year and the Gnats are 39-46 against Rome as a Mets affiliate.
Simply the Best: The Gnats' pitching staff leads the South Atlantic League and all of minor league baseball with a 2.54 ERA. The Gnats are one of four teams with an ERA under three, joined by the AA San Antonio Missions (Texas League - SD) - a 2.94 ERA, the Advanced-A Lakeland Flying Tigers (Florida State League - DET) who have a 2.95 ERA, and the Advanced-A Kinston Indians (Carolina League - CLE) of the 2.81 ERA.
Hail Cesar: Cesar Puello rides a seven game hitting streak, over which time he is batting .417 (10 H/24 AB) with three doubles. After fighting through a .192/.259/.232 (AVG/OBP/SLG) May, Puello is hitting .297/.395/.405 in 11 games in June. He has four doubles in June, equaling his total in each of the season's first two months.
Stronger Flo: Wilmer Flores has hit safely in four straight games, going 6-for-19 (.316) in that time with two home runs, two RBI and four runs scored. The last time he hit in as many as four consecutive games, was his ten-game hitting streak from May 6-16th. At the end of the previous streak, he was hitting .364/.418/.586 (AVG/OBP/SLG). Flores then hit .134 (11-for-82) May 16th from May 17th-June 8th. For the year, he's hitting .287/.354/.454 with 7 HR, which has already eclipsed his home run output from last year, when he hit .264/.305/.332 with Savannah last year with 20 doubles and 3 home runs in 125 games.
Special K: Savannah leads minor league baseball with 578 strikeouts, an average of 9.03 per game. The Mississippi Braves are second with 561 strikeouts.
Last Championship: The Savannah franchise has not made the playoffs since winning the SAL Championship as the Savannah Cardinals in 1996. The Cardinals beat the Greensboro Hornets 3-2 in the championship series.
South Atlantic League Stories from June 15, 2010
- Lakewood Tops Legends on Bases-Loaded Walk in 10th - Lexington Legends
- Gnats Move Back Into First Place Tie with 3-1 Win Tuesday - Savannah Sand Gnats
- 'Dads Defeat Power, 7-5, in Rain-Shortened Game - Hickory Crawdads
- BlueClaws Come Back to Win 2-1 over Lexington - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Castro Scores Game-Winner on Wild Pitch, Dogs Unbutton GreenJackets, 4-3 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Augusta Drops Heartbreaker on Ninth Inning Wild Pitch - Augusta GreenJackets
- Pitching Keys Shorebirds 2-1 Game Two Win - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Intimidators Nipped Again by Shorebirds, 2-1 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Gnats Game Notes - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Shorebirds Game Notes - Delmarva Shorebirds
- SAL All-Stars Set to Arrive in Greenville June 21-22 - Greenville Drive
- Cynthia Griner, Mrs. North Carolina International, at June 26th Game - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- RiverDogs Go Back to Ohio Once Again - Charleston RiverDogs
- Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Jackets Take Advantage Of Sloppy âDogs In 7-4 Win - Augusta GreenJackets
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