Savannah Sand Gnats Game Notes May 22, 2010

Published on May 22, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Tonight: The Gnats play game three of their four-game series with the Charleston RiverDogs, and game seven of their eight-game road trip. Savannah is one game behind Augusta for first place in the SAL Southern Division after the Gnats lost and the GreenJackets won last night. The Gnats are 1-5 on their current road trip.

Last Night: The RiverDogs scored five times in the first inning against Savannah starter Armando Rodriguez on their way to a 9-6 win. Rodriguez lasted just two innings, his shortest start of the year. The Gnats rallied, loading the bases in the third and fifth innings, but could not overcome their early hole.

Now Pitching: Mark Cohoon will make his ninth start of the year for Savannah. The Gnats are 7-1 in Cohoon's starts and have supported him with 4.5 runs per game, the third-lowest mark among Gnats starters. His 1.94 ERA is sixth-best in the SAL and his 51.0 innings pitched are third-most on the circuit. Cohoon has thrown at least five innings in each of his starts for Savannah this year and has gone at least six innings in six of his eight. He spent all of 2009 with Brooklyn in the New York-Penn League where he was 9-2 with a 2.15 ERA in 14 starts. He fanned 70 and walked 20 in 92 innings. His 2.15 ERA was 6th in the League and the Mets recognized him with the team's Sterling Award as the Cyclones' MVP. In 2008 with Savannah, Cohoon was 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in seven starts after moving directly from the Kingsport Mets, skipping over Brooklyn. The Mets drafted Cohoon in the 12th round of the 2008 draft out of North Central Texas College.

Vs. Charleston: Tonight is the third of 13 scheduled meetings between the Gnats and the RiverDogs. Savannah is 1-1 against Charleston. The ‘Dogs do not visit Savannah until August 25-28. Last year, the Gnats were 8-15 against Charleston.

Yo-yo: Savannah has bounced in and out of first each of the last three days, and is now back in second. The Gnats have had at least a share of first for 27 of the last 29 days.

Saturday Night Fever: The Gnats are a perfect 6-0 on Saturdays in 2010, 4-0 at home and 2-0 on the road.

Rough Road: The Gnats are 1-5 on their current road trip. The offense has been quiet, scoring two runs per game (12 R/6 G) on a .179 batting average and a .232 slugging percentage with just one home run. On the trip, Gnats' pitchers have a 2.29 ERA with a strong strikeout to walk ratio of 3.93 (55 K/14 BB) in 59 innings.

Big Flo: Wilmer Flores is #2 in the SAL in batting average (.341), sixth in on-base percentage (.398) and seventh in slugging (.541). However, he is 6-for-25 (.240) with one double on the Gnats' current road trip. Flores hit .264/.305/.332 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with three home runs in 125 games for Savannah last year as a 17 year-old.

The Best: Savannah leads the SAL with a 2.53 ERA and is the only team with an ERA below 3.18. Savannah is second in the league in strikeouts (382) and is now tied with Charleston as having allowed the fewest home runs (14).

Early Jumps: The Gnats are 20-8 when scoring first this year, but the game's location matters greatly. The Gnats are 10-1 when scoring first at home and 10-7 on the road. All told, the Gnats have outscored their opponents 28-17 in the first inning and 70-49 in the first three innings of games this year.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 22, 2010


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