Championship Series Game 1
LHP Angel Cuan (10-3, 3.56/0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Kyle Winters (8-3, 4.10/0-0, 0.00)
Monday - 7:00 - NewBridge Bank Park, Greensboro, NC
Radio: News/Talk 630 and sandgnats.com
Tonight: The Southern Division Champion Sand Gnats will begin the best-of-five South Atlantic League Championship series against the Northern Division Champion Greensboro Grasshoppers in Greensboro, NC. Greensboro will host games one and two Monday and Tuesday. After a travel day Wednesday, the series shifts to Savannah for game three Thursday, and if necessary, games four and five, Friday and Saturday.
Saturday: The Gnats clinched the Southern Division Championship with a 3-1 win over the Augusta GreenJackets. Starter Erik Goeddel threw five shutout innings for the win, while CF Darrell Ceciliani was 2-3 with a walk, a triple and a run scored.
Now Pitching: LHP Angel Cuan, who finished 10th in the SAL in ERA (3.56) in the regular season, will take the ball for the Gnats in game one after starting game one of the Divisional Series for the Gnats. Cuan worked around six hits to fire six shutout innings in Augusta last Wednesday, fanning five without issuing a walk, but the bullpen could not hold a 1-0 as the Gnats lost 4-1. Including the playoffs and regular season, Cuan threw at least five innings in each of his final 14 starts and at least six innings in 12 of his last 14 starts. His 10 wins led the Gnats and was tied for fourth in the SAL. In his only regular season appearance against the Grasshoppers, he gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk with six strikeouts in six innings in an 11-4 Savannah win on July 8. During the regular season, Cuan walked just 16 batters in 124 innings, a rate of 1.16 BB/9. Last year, Cuan was second only to teammate Yohan Almonte in the New-York Penn League with a 2.03 ERA. He was fifth in the NYP in strikeouts (64) and fourth in innings pitched (79.2) and fewest baserunners/9 IP (9.94). Cuan pitched for his native Panama in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. In the playoffs and regular season, the Gnats are 11-4 when Cuan starts and have supported him with 4.47 runs per game (67 runs/15 games).
Savannah Playoff History: The Gnats are looking for their first SAL Championship since 1996 when the team won the League in their first year with the Gnats moniker. The Savannah Cardinals won back-to-back SAL titles in 1993 and 1994. The Gnats are looking for their fourth SAL Championship in the League’s modern era, which dates to the 1980 season, and 10th overall. The Savannah franchise won its first SAL championship in 1906.
Vs. Greensboro: The Gnats were 3-5 against Greensboro during the 2011 regular season, 1-3 at home and 2-2 on the road. The ‘Hoppers were the only team to win a series from the Gnats at home at Historic Grayson Stadium in the second half of the regular season where the Gnats had a 6-1-2 record in their nine second half series. In their eight games head-to-head, the Gnats outscored the Grasshoppers 42-31. As a team, the Gnats hit .274/.348/.411 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 25 extra-base hits – 16 doubles, five triples and four homers - against the Greensboro. The Grasshoppers hit .238/.308/.356 with 18 extra-base knocks – 11 doubles, one triple and six longballs – versus the Gnats.
Game One Matters: Last year, for the first time in nine years, the game one winner in the best-of-five SAL Championship Series did not go on to win the Championship. Last year, Greenville won game one, 3-1 at home, but Lakewood recovered to win the next three in a row. In each of the previous eight championship series, the game one winner won the series. Since 2002, there have been three series sweeps, five series which were decided 3-1, and just one that went the distance to five games.
DC: Darrell Ceciliani was 6-7 with a triple, a walk and two runs scored in the last two games of the Gnats series against Augusta, both Gnats’ wins. Since August 1, in his last 31 games between the regular season and post-season, he is hitting .325/.424/.439 with six doubles, four triples and 20 walks against 25 strikeouts in 123 AB.
Location Matters: Including the regular season and playoffs, the Gnats are 50-22 at home, thanks in part to a 23-6 record in one-run games. On the road, Savannah is 31-39 and 4-14 in one-run games. The ‘Hoppers are 46-25 at home and 35-34 on the road.
Strong Arms: The Gnats finished the regular season as the top pitching staff in the SAL in ERA (3.26), WHIP (1.22) and fewest hits allowed (1070). The Gnats were fifth in strikeouts (1058) and allowed the sixth fewest walks (428).
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