Savannah Sand Gnats Game Notes
Published on July 10, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release
Savannah Sand Gnats (13-4/52-34, 1st, Southern) vs. Greensboro Grasshoppers (8-9/48-39, 5th, Northern)
RHP Ryan Fraser (6-5, 3.30) vs. RHP Zachary Neal (5-6, 4.63)
Game #87 - Home Game #46 - Sunday - 2:05
Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA
Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com
Today: The first-half champion Gnats look for a split in the finale of a four-game series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers, SAL affiliate of the Florida Marlins. The Gnats are 3-3 on their current seven-game home stand.
Last Night: Three Grasshoppers pitchers held the Gnats to three hits and eight walks in a 5-0 win over Savannah.
Now Pitching: RHP Ryan Fraser is scheduled to make his 14th Savannah start today. Fraser enters today off his longest start of the year, when he shut out Rome on two hits, four walks and a season-high seven strikeouts in his last start in a 1-0 win on Tuesday, July 5. Fraser is 12th in the SAL in innings pitched, but with six innings today, could move into the top five. Last year with short-season Brooklyn, Fraser struck out 39 batters in 31.1 innings pitched, a rate of 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings. This year, he's fanned 56 in 90 innings, a rate 5.6 K/9. Fraser struck out 5.1 batters/9 IP in the first half (41 K/72 IP), but is up to 7.5 K/9 in the second half (15 K/18 IP). With the Cyclones last year, working exclusively out the of the bullpen, he was 3-3 with a 1.44 ERA and 12 saves in 31.1 IP. He struck out 39, walked 20 and yielded just 16 hits. The Mets drafted Fraser in the 16th round of the 2010 draft out of Memphis. The Rays originally drafted Fraser out of Walker Valley HS in the 49th round in 2006, but he chose to attend Gulf Coast Community College and then Memphis. At Memphis, he led the Tigers with 93 strikeouts and 92 IP in 2010 on his way to three C-USA Pitcher of the Week honors and a Second Team All C-USA selection. In the classroom, he was a member of the C-USA All-Academic Team in 2010 and ran a 4.0 grade point average in high school. The Gnats are 6-6 when Fraser starts, and have supported him with 3.08 runs per game (37 runs/12 games), the lowest mark of any Savannah starter.
Shutout Story: The Gnats have been involved in more shutouts (17) than any other team in the SAL this year. Gnats' pitching has thrown 10 shutouts, the most in the SAL and the offense has been held off the scoreboard seven times, second-most behind Charleston (8).
About Last Night: The Gnats' three hits tied a season-low for fewest hits in a nine-inning game... The game time of 3:10 was the Gnats' longest nine-inning game at home and second-longest of 2011.
Walk This Way: The Gnats are fifth in the SAL in walks drawn (292). As a result, despite a virtual tie with Augusta for the lowest batting average (.242), the Gnats are 12th in on-base percentage (.322). As a Mets affiliate, the Gnats have never finished higher than ninth in the SAL in walks, and were dead last in the then 16-team league in 2007 and 2008.
Forsythe Feeling It: In his last seven games, C Blake Forsythe is 8-for-22 (.364) with three doubles, a triple, a home run and eight walks against four strikeouts for a .727 slugging percentage.
Strong Arms: The Gnats have the SAL's best ERA (3.12), 42 hundredths better than second-place Hickory. The Gnats are back to the top spot in fewest hits (666) allowed, three in front of Hickory (669) and 234 fewer than Asheville, which has allowed the most. The Gnats have the fourth-most strikeouts in the SAL (693).
Vs. Greensboro: The Gnats are 1-2 against the Grasshoppers in 2011. This is the first of two series between the Gnats and Grasshoppers in 2011. The Gnats return the visit to Greensboro, July 28-31. This is Greensboro's first visit to Savannah since the Hoppers took three of four games from the Gnats July 30-August 2, 2007. The Gnats were 5-2 in Greensboro last year, and 2-2 in both 2008 and 2009.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 10, 2011
- Suns Cruise Past Power 8-2 in Series Finale - Hagerstown Suns
- Legends Hang On, 8-7, to Avoid Sweep at L.P. Frans - Hickory Crawdads
- Lakewood Drops Series Finale 5-3 to Kannapolis - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Legends Hold on for 8-7 Win - Lexington Legends
- Feliz Flourishes as 'Dogs Secure DH Sweep - Charleston RiverDogs
- RiverDogs Sweep Doubleheader with 5-4 Game Two Win - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Grasshoppers Spring Past Gnats 3-1 Sunday - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Winning Streak Ends at Four as Drive Take Finale - Rome Emperors
- Four-Run Sixth Leads to GreenJackets Sweep - Augusta GreenJackets
- RiverDogs Win Game One of Doubleheader, 2-0 - Delmarva Shorebirds
- West Virginia Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Savannah Sand Gnats Game Notes - Savannah Sand Gnats
- BlueClaws Split Doubleheader Saturday - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
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