Savannah Sand Gnats Game Notes May 23, 2010

Published on May 23, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Tonight: The Gnats finish their four-game series with the Charleston RiverDogs, and their eight game road trip that began with a four-game sweep in Augusta. Savannah is now two games behind Augusta for first place in the SAL Southern Division. The Gnats are 1-6 on their current road trip.

Last Night: The RiverDogs came back to beat the Sand Gnats 7-6 in 11 innings. The Gnats took a 6-2 lead into the ninth, but a pair of Charleston homers, the second a three-run jack with two outs from RF Zoilo Almonte, tied up the game. It was the first time that Gnats' pitching had allowed multiple home runs in an inning this year. In the 11th, Hector Rabago singled, went to second on a passed ball, third on a wild pitch and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly. The Gnats wasted a three-hit game from C Kai Gronauer and another strong start from Mark Cohoon who held Charleston to two runs in six innings.

Now Pitching: Brandon Moore will make his seventh start for the Savannah Sand Gnats. The Gnats are 3-3 when Moore throws and have supported him with 3.5 runs per game, the lowest mark among all Gnats pitchers with four or more starts. Moore is tenth in the SAL with a 2.11 ERA, one of three Gnats in the top ten in the league in ERA. He has been untouchable in May with a 1.67 in his four starts this month. In 27 innings, he's held the opposition to 16 hits for a .174 opponents' average and has a strikeout to walk ratio of nine (36 K/4 BB). Moore was 6-3 with a 2.09 ERA in 82 innings over 13 starts for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2009, striking out 71 batters and walking 17. He threw the first no-hitter in Brooklyn Cyclones history on August 23, 2009 striking out six and walking three that day to help the Brooklyn Cyclones beat the Aberdeen Ironbirds 5-0 in game one of a seven-inning doubleheader. The Mets drafted Moore in the 14th round out of Indiana Wesleyan University in 2008 where he was the Mid-Central College Conference Player of the Year. Moore struck out 104 batters in 76.2 IP, making his 12.8 K/9 IP second in the NAIA.

Vs. Charleston: Tonight is the fourth of 13 scheduled meetings between the Gnats and the RiverDogs. Savannah is 1-2 against Charleston. The ‘Dogs do not visit Savannah until August 25-28. Last year, the Gnats were 8-15 against Charleston.

Rough Road: The Gnats are 1-6 on their current road trip. The Gnats have scored six runs each of the last two nights, but are still averaging just 2.6 runs per game (18 R/7 G) on a .186 batting average and a .238 slugging percentage with one home run. On the trip, Gnats' pitchers have a 2.73 ERA with a strong strikeout to walk ratio of 4.13 (62 K/15 BB) in 69.1 innings.

Extra, Extra: With their 11-inning loss last night, the Gnats dropped to 2-5 in extra innings, 1-5 on the road.

One Big Run: The Gnats are 4-9 in one-run games, but just 2-7 on the road.

Pray More? The Gnats are 1-4 on Sunday, 0-3 on the road. Each of the last two weeks, the Gnats have gone to extra innings on Sunday, losing 12-11 in fifteen innings in Lakewood two weeks ago and falling 1-0 in 18 innings in Augusta last week.

Slower Flo: Wilmer Flores is #2 in the SAL in batting average (.337), ninth in on-base percentage (.396) and sixth in slugging (.531). However, he is 7-30 (.233) with one double on the Gnats' current road trip. Since going 3-6 in the opening game of the trip, Flores is just 4-for-24, which has dropped his batting average from a high of .364 down to .337 today, a 27 point drop in under a week. Flores hit .264/.305/.332 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with three home runs in 125 games for Savannah last year as a 17 year-old.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 23, 2010


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