Savannah 1, Rome 0

John Church has made the transition from bullpen piece to the front of the rotation very quickly for the Savannah Sand Gnats (4-7/46-35). Church threw seven shutout innings in his second career start to lead the Gnats past the Rome Braves (5-6/35-45) with a 1-0 victory in front of a big crowd of 3,376 on July 4th at Historic Grayson Stadium.



Church had made 22 relief appearances for Savannah this season before making his first start on Tuesday in Greenville. He shutout out the Drive for four innings that night, so in his 11 innings as a starter, Church has given up just five hits and two walks, struck out five and has not allowed a single run. With the win Sunday night, he improved to 4-0 with a 1.14 ERA. Church and two relievers, Brandon Sage and Michael Powers, combined on the four-hitter and did not allow a runner past second base all night.



The Gnats scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the second inning. 1B Travis Ozga led off the frame with a double into the right field corner and scored on 3B Jet Butler’s RBI double into left center. Ozga has now hit safely in six straight games.