Savannah 6, Rome 5

One night after clinching the first half title, the Savannah Sand Gnats kept on rolling, scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to win their eighth straight game, defeating the Rome Braves 6-5 Wednesday night at Historic Grayson Stadium. The Gnats (39-26) have won 20 of their last 24 games and now own the best record in the South Atlantic League.



Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Gnats’ 2B Luis Nieves drew a leadoff walk and, carrying the tying run, advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt. CF Darrell Ceciliani followed with a clean single into center field. Rome centerfielder Kyle Rose charged and made a strong throw home to nail Nieves and keep Rome in front, temporarily. With Ceciliani now at second with the tying run, SS Wilfredo Tovar flared a liner down the left field line for a double, driving home Ceciliani to even the game at 5-5. Tovar advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball on Rome catcher Christian Bethancourt.



Tovar, who was 3-5 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBI has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games. Tovar’s RBI triple in the sixth evened the game at 4-4.



The Braves (25-41) scored two runs off Savannah starter Greg Peavey in the top of the first inning for an early 2-0 lead. After the Gnats answered back with two in the third, the Braves took a 4-2 lead with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth, without the ball so much as leaving the infield.

The Gnats picked up a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning on and squared the game at 4-4 on Tovar’s triple tied the game in the seventh.



Rome took a 5-4 lead with three-straight two out singles against reliever LHP Adam Kolarek in the seventh. Kolarek held the Braves off the scoreboard in the eighth to earn his first win as a Gnat. LHP Hamilton Bennett worked a 1-2-3 ninth with a pair of strikeouts for his fourth Savannah save.
 
From team press release