Gnats 4, Hot Rods 2

The Savannah Sand Gnats used a three-run, sixth-inning rally to get back into the win column, defeating the Bowling Green Hot Rods, 4- 2, Friday night in front of 2,025 fans at Historic Grayson Stadium.

Four Gnats turned in multi-hit games including Jordany Valdespin, Rafael Fernandez and Josh Satin, who all had key hits to the game-winning rally in the sixth. Valdespin led off with a single and moved to third on Fernandez’s second hit of the evening. Satin’s RBI-double tied the game at one and brought Sean Ratliff to the plate with two on and no outs.

The Longmont, Colo. native struck a ball to short that the first overall pick in last year’s draft Tim Beckham could not handle and allowed Fernandez to score the go-ahead run. Wilmer Flores drove in Satin with a double before being thrown out at third trying to stretch his double into a triple.

Bowling Green would creep to within a run in the eighth but the Gnats brought the lead back to two with an insurance run in the bottom of the frame.

Rhiner Cruz (1-1) picked up the win in relief, throwing 2.1 innings behind starter Jeff Kaplan who allowed one run on six hits over five innings of work. Jimmy Johnson pitched the final 1.2 innings for his third save of the season. Johnson, 23, permitted two hits to go along with a walk and a strikeout.