Lexington 3, Savannah 1

A three-run ninth inning rally by the Lexington Legends catapulted them to a, 3-1, win over the Savannah Sand Gnats Wednesday night at Historic Grayson Stadium. With the tough loss, the Sand Gnats have now lost five straight games to tie a season high. The Legends took the lead without getting a ball out of the infield in the ninth as a pair of walks and an infield bunt single loaded the bases for Lexington. Andy Simunic hit a slow roller toward short that Wilmer Flores flipped to second for the first out of the inning but the tying run crossed the plate and put an end to the night for Josh Stinson (1-2). Jimmy Johnson was brought in from the bullpen to keep the game deadlocked but Freddy Hernandez took the first pitch and placed it just out of the reach of Marte at third and the go-ahead run scored. Lexington would add an insurance run later in the inning when Johnson issued a free pass to leadoff man Jay Austin that walked in Simunic. The Gnats went down in order in the bottom of the ninth. Jeff Kaplan pitched 7.2 shutout innings for Savannah to no avail. The Dana Point, Calif. native struck outs three batters and also induced three inning-ending double plays in his longest outing of the season. Kaplan’s 7.2 innings pitched is a career high and also a team high. The Gnats took their first lead of the series in the first inning against the Legends. Jefry Marte reached on a fielding error at third base with one out. Josh Satin moved him to second with a single and Sean Ratliff drove him in with a run-scoring single. Missed opportunities loomed large again for Savannah Wednesday evening as they left 11 men on the bases.