St. Lucie 2, Savannah 1

Saturday was a camp day for the Mets minor leaguers in Port St. Lucie so the two A-ball teams, the Savannah Sand Gnats and the St. Lucie Mets, squared off in a six-inning game which St. Lucie won 2-1.

Yohan Almonte started and threw four innings for the Gnats, yielding one run. “He’s one of those guys that belongs in the [South Atlantic] League” said Gnats manager Pedro Lopez after the game. Lopez elaborated, “his fastball was well located on both sides of the plate… and he changed speeds well.” Almonte was 3-1 with a 4.40 ERA for Kingsport in the Appalachian League in 2009 with 37 strikeouts against just eight walks in 43 innings.

Elvin Ramirez tossed two innings in relief of Almonte. Injuries limited Ramirez to 18 starts in 2008 and 15 starts for Savannah in 2009.

Jim Fuller threw for the Advanced-A side on Saturday, holding Savannah to one run in four innings. “I think he’s going to be one of our guys,” Lopez opined. Fuller owned a 2.86 ERA in 92 innings for Brooklyn in the New York-Penn League in 2009 with 67 strikeouts and 15 walks in 63 innings.

The Gnats scored their only run of the game in the third inning. Pedro Zapata walked, stole second and scored on a double by Rafael Fernandez. Zapata walked in both of his plate appearances.
 
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