Dlemarva 4 - Savannah 1

The Savannah Sand Gnats fell to the Delmarva Shorebirds 4-1 on Tuesday night at Perdue Stadium. Starter Kevin McGowan suffered his first loss of the season, battling through four and a third innings while yielding seven hits and four earned runs. The Gnats offense racked up seven hits but came away with just one run in the losing effort.

Savannah (10-6) struggled to get the big hit, going 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position. The Gnats lone run was scored in the third inning when first baseman Hector Veloz committed an error trying to throw out shortstop Gavin Cecchini as he was advancing to third base on a L.J. Mazzilli groundout.  

Delmarva starter and Orioles 2013 first-round draft pick Hunter Harvey continued to impress, pitching four innings and allowing just three hits while striking out five. The righthander issued five walks, which may have led to his early exit after just four innings- his shortest outing of the season. Harvey leads league starters with a miniscule 0.86 ERA.

The Birds bullpen held the Gnats scoreless to finish the game. Reliever Dylan Rheault earned his league-leading fourth win, pitching two innings while striking out two. Jon Kellerthen bridged the gap for his fourth hold, giving way to closer Jimmy Yacobonis who earned his league-leading fifth save.

The Gnats did manage to steal a season-high five bases with Jeff McNeil, Mazzilli, Cecchini, Jared King, and Dominic Smith all swiping one bag each. King also extended his South Atlantic League-leading consecutive on-base streak to 17 games by earning a walk in the third inning. King has now reached base in every single game this season.

After issuing a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning, Gnats starter McGowan was lifted for Dario Alvarez. The lefthander was stellar in relief, holding the Birds to just one hit over three and two-thirds innings while whiffing six batters. The Santiago, Dominican Republic, native joins Robert Coles as the only Gnats pitchers yet to give up an earned run.  

The Sand Gnats pitching staff now sports the second best ERA in the South Atlantic League (2.83) and has coughed-up the least amount of hits (132). - team press release