The Savannah Sand Gnats moved within one game of clinching their first South Atlantic League Championship in 17 years with a 6-0 shutout of the Hagerstown Suns Thursday night at Historic Grayson Stadium. The Gnats lead the best-of-five-game series two to one. Game four is scheduled for Friday night.
Starter Gabriel Ynoa fired seven shutout innings for the Gnats to earn the win. After dealing with a runner at third in the first, and a runner at second in the second inning, he did not allow a runner past first base in his final five frames while retiring 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. He struck out five and walked one.
The Gnats scored the game’s first two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Stefan Sabol brought home Dilson Herrera with a sacrifice fly. Herrera knocked the ball out of Hagerstown catcher Pedro Severino’s glove with a hard takeout slide. Jeff Reynolds then followed with a clean single into center to score the second run.
Savannah added two more runs in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. Sabol tripled up the right-centerfield gap to score Cole Frenzel and then scored himself on another single to center by Reynolds.
Reynolds reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a walk and three RBI. The 5-6-7 hitters in the order, Frenzel, Sabol and Reynolds were a combined 6-for-8 with a triple, four runs scored and five RBI.
The Gnats added single runs in the fifth and sixth inning to complete the game’s scoring.
Rehabbing big leaguer Jeurys Familia struck out two batters in a hitless eighth in his second appearance of the Championship Series for the Gnats.
Savannah will hand the ball to LHP Steven Matz (5-6, 2.62 – regular season/1-0, 0.00 – post-season) against RHP Dakota Bacus (1-0, 0.00 – regular season/0-0, 0.00 – post-season) in game four. First pitch at Historic Grayson Stadium is scheduled for 7:05. Gates open at 6 pm. The radio pre-game show on News/Talk 630 and online at sandgnats.com begins at 6:45 pm.
4 comments:
Go Gnats! It's all I got left to pull for. Unless we root for a better draft pick for the Mets
They are ending the season playing outstanding behind the great pitching of Ynoa and Matz (who goes tonight)
Hey Mack. Hope things are well. Yes been following the team. Good for the vity of Savannah. Matz was lights out last game an pitched the game of his career. Interesting team with potential big league players in Nimmo, Herrera, Ynoa, and Matz. Wishful thinking.
Also read recently that the owners here might move the Gnats to South Carolina.
Wife won't left me go to the game (unable to travel alone at night any longer).
Very sad to miss the game tonight.
Columbia, South Carolina seems to be an option, but the Mets contract runs out with this team after 2014 and the Mets may make their own decision first
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