Savannah Sand Gnats Game Notes

August 14, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Savannah Sand Gnats News Release


Savannah Sand Gnats (30-17/69-47, 1st, Southern) vs. Asheville Tourists (26-22/57-60, 4th, Southern)

Game #118 - Home Game #62 - Sunday - 6:05

RHP Ryan Fraser (7-7, 3.30) vs. RHP Josh Mueller (5-5, 4.66)

Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah, GA

Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com

Tonight: The first-half champion Gnats begin a four-game series against the Asheville Tourists, SAL affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, who are making their only visit to Savannah in 2011.

Last Night: The Gnats and Greenville Drive were suspended by rain with the Drive leading 1-0 in the middle of the fifth inning. The game will be resumed Thursday, August 18, at 5 pm in Greenville, on the first day of the Gnats' road trip to Greenville and Rome. The completion of the suspended game will be followed by Thursday's regularly scheduled game, which has now been shortened to seven innings.

Now Pitching: RHP Ryan Fraser, who is eighth in the SAL with his 3.30 ERA and ninth in the League with 122.2 innings pitched, is scheduled to make his 20th Savannah start today. Fraser has not allowed a run in his two August starts, putting together 10 shutout innings with eight strikeouts, four walks, two hit batters and nine hits. At home, Fraser has a 2.87 ERA (20 ER/62.2 IP) compared to 3.75 (25 ER/60 IP) on the road. In part this is due to his home run rate which is 0.43 HR/9 IP (3 HR/62.2 IP) at home and 1.35 HR/9 IP (9 HR/60 IP) on the road. 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 77 in 122.2 innings, a rate of 5.7 K/9. With the Cyclones last year, working exclusively out of the bullpen, he was 3-3 with a 1.44 ERA and 12 saves in 31.1 IP and allowed more walks (20) than hits (16). The Mets drafted Fraser in the 16th round of the 2010 draft out of Memphis where 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 9-10 when Fraser starts, and have supported him with 2.68 runs per game (51 runs/19 games), the lowest mark of any Savannah starter.

Rainy Half: After playing all of their regularly scheduled games at home in the first half, the Gnats have had three suspensions or postponements in the second half.

Totally Tovar: Including his 1-for-2 last night, Wilfredo Tovar has hit safely in his last eight games, going 12-for-30 (.400) with two doubles, two walks and four RBI. Tovar hit .236/.287/.293 in 65 games in the first half and .243/.327/.283 in the second half. He walked 16 times in the first half - a rate of 6.1% - but has earned 19 walks in the second half - a rate of 9.4%.

Playoff Scenario: The Gnats will play the number two seed in the best-of-three Southern Division Championship series beginning on the road on Wednesday, September 7 and returning to Savannah on Friday, September 9, with game three, if necessary, scheduled for Saturday, September 10. The number two seed will be the second half winner, or if the Gnats win the half, the team with the next best overall record. The Gnats currently lead the second half standings by 2.5 games over the Augusta GreenJackets, 3.5 games over the Greenville Drive, and 4.5 games over the Asheville Tourists with 22 games to play in the half, plus the completion of Saturday's game. If the Gnats win the second half, their first-round opponent will be the team with the next-best overall record where the Greenville Drive are currently six games better than the GreenJackets and eight and a half in front of Asheville. Augusta's game last night in Lexington was cancelled by rain. The GreenJackets have won seven games in a row and are scheduled for five games with the Drive, August 26-30.

Strong Arms: The Gnats still lead the SAL in ERA (3.18), WHIP (1.22) and fewest hits allowed (889). The Gnats are fifth in the SAL in strikeouts (917), and have allowed the seventh-fewest walks in the SAL (364). The Tourists are last in ERA (5.36) and have allowed the second-most home runs (104), and are eighth in strikeouts (917) and have allowed the fifth-most walks (415).

Vs. Asheville: The Gnats are 2-1 against the Tourists this year - all on the road in Asheville June 5-7 - in a series the Gnats were outscored 15-11.



South Atlantic League Stories from August 14, 2011


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