September 1 Florence Freedom Game Notes
September 1, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE FREEDOM (46-44) vs. WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS (39-51)
Tuesday, September 1, 2015 - 6:35 p.m. ET
UC Health Stadium - Florence, KY
Game #91 - Home Game #49 (46-44), (23-25)
RHP #37 Cody Gray (3-2, 4.04 ERA) vs. RHP #35 Cam Giannini (4-1, 2.19 ERA)
Last time out...
The Florence Freedom (46-44), presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, tossed a combined shutout on Sunday to beat the Frontier Greys (40-50) by a score of 5-0. Patrick McGrath (2-2) tossed five innings of shutout ball while only allowing one hit. Tony Vocca took over and fired two scoreless frames. Then Ethan Gibbons and Ed Kohout took care of the 8th and 9th innings respectively in the victory. Sam Eberle was the offensive star of the game as he launched a two-run home run in the first and another fifth. In the first Zac Mitchell doubled and with two away Eberle went the opposite way to put Florence up 2-0. Daniel Fraga singled in the third and Austin Newell doubled him home to extend the lead to 3-0. In the fifth, Mitchell singled but Newell hit into a fielder's choice. That's when Eberle crushed his second two-run shot of the night, a blast off the left field scoreboard to make it 5-0 in favor of the Freedom.
For Starters...
Cody Gray makes his 11th start of the year tonight for the Freedom. He is coming off a no-decision against the Rockford Aviators on August 26 in a 5-2 win for Florence. Gray went four and a third innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out six. This is Gray's second start of the year against Windy City as he went five innings against the ThunderBolts on June 28 as he got a no-decision in a 6-4 win for Florence. Gray allowed two runs on five hits in that game. Florence is 8-2 when Gray starts this season. But he is looking for his first win since July 28 against Lake Erie. A product of NAIA school Northwood University, Gray went 8-3 in 12 starts in 2015, finishing with an ERA of 1.69. Impressively, Gray struck out 101 batters in 85 innings. In 2014 Gray appeared in seven games, picking up five wins. Also struck out 37 batters in 42.2 innings as a starter. Named a Pre-season All-American pitcher.
The playoff chase...
If the season ended today the Freedom would be in the playoffs. The Freedom are currently one game ahead of the Rockford Aviators for the final spot in the Frontier League playoffs with six games to play. Florence holds the tiebreaker.
Pitcher of the Week...
Freedom starter Jeremy Gooding earned Frontier League Pitcher of the Week honors for his complete game shutout against the Greys on Friday. His next start is Thursday.
Against the ThunderBolts...
The Freedom are 2-1 this year against the ThunderBolts, taking 2 of 3 from them June 27-28 at Standard Bank Stadium.
Run and run some more...
The Freedom's 137 stolen bases are second to the River City Rascals (141) in the Frontier League.
Get that lead...
When the Freedom lead after seven innings they have a record of 37-2. However they are only 2-36 when trailing after seven innings.
Home sweet home?
The Freedom are only 23-25 at home this season with three home games remaining starting tonight. They will need to win out at home to finish with a winning record at UC Health Stadium. Luckily the ThunderBolts are the worst road team in the league at 12-27.
Getting on base...
Frazier Hall is fitting right in with the Freedom's philosophy of working the count. Through 21 games with Florence he's drawn 19 walks and has a team-high .463 OBP. Overall, the Freedom have drawn 333 walks this season, the third most in the league.
Five or more...
Florence is 34-4 when scoring five or more runs in a game this season.
Offensive revival...
After only hitting .223 as a team in the month of July, the Freedom hit .268 as a team in August. Sam Eberle is led the way as usual last month with a .361 average, 3 HR and 17 RBI.
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Frontier League Stories from September 1, 2015
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