The Savannah Sand Gnats were defeated by Lakewood 6-5 on Sunday at FirstEnergy Park, despite outhitting the BlueClaws 9-5. The Gnats rallied with two runs in the eighth and then one run in the ninth to cut the lead to one, but were thwarted when reliever Ulises Joaquin coaxed third baseman Jeff McNeil to pop-up for the final out.
Savannah starter Chris Flexen began the first inning by giving up a solo home run to shortstop J.P. Crawford. After inducing a fly-out and a ground-out, Flexen allowed another solo home run- this time to first baseman Wilmer Oberto. Flexen then allowed another four Lakewood runs to cross the plate in the third inning. His season-high six earned runs were enough to force an early exit after just three innings.
Lefthander Dario Alvarez threw three innings of scoreless relief for Savannah, striking out six batters compared to issuing just one walk. Opponents are now hitting just .111 against Alvarez.
Strikeout specialist Akeel Morris finished the game for the Gnats whiffing another three hitters and allowing just one walk in his two innings of work. Savannah pitchers now lead the league with a whopping 10.22 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
The Gnats amassed nine hits but were just 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Shortstop Gavin Cecchini finished the afternoon 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. First baseman Dominic Smith went two-for-three with a double off of Lakewood starter Tyler Viza in the top of the fifth. After a shaky start to the season, Smith has regrouped to hit .353 over his last five games, smacking a double in each of the last three. The 18-year-old first-rounder has struck out just once in his last four games.
After taking the series 3-2 against Lakewood (7-16), Savannah (14-8) now has just a half-game lead over the Greenville Drive. The Gnats will return home Tuesday as they send RHP Kevin McGowan (0-1, 5.27) to the mound up against Orioles 2013 first-round pick, RHP Hunter Harvey (1-0, 0.86). Fans can enjoy two-for-one Coors Light and Miller Lite as a part of Two-For-Tuesday. Gates at Historic Grayson Stadium will open at 6:05 p.m. and first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. The radio broadcast on News/Talk 630 WBMQ and online atsandgnats.com begins with the pregame show at 6:45 pm. - team press release
Good to see Cecchini and Smith rebound. We lost 3 one run games in minors yesterday, but 24 runs in the 4 farm teams' games takes the sting away. I love it when there isn't offensive anemia.
ReplyDeleteMack,
ReplyDeleteI was at this game. I was pretty excited for Savannah to come to town. I know if was only one game but I was very impressed with Smith. He's very smooth in the field, which is nice to see. I was extremely impressed with his approach at the plate. Solid base and little movement. Good eye. Saw him take two pitches to LF (double and line out). I could care less about his overall stat line for the season. Just seeing his approach at the plate yesterday, I'm fairly confident he'll figure this league out and continue his ascent through the minor leagues. Overall, I left yesterday impressed with our young Sand Gnats, Cecchini included.
Side note: I had the pleasure of watching d'Arnaud play for the Blueclaws a few years ago. He wasn't a Mets prospect so I didn't know anything about him besides the weird name and lowercase d on his jersey (only reason I remember him). Funny how he made his way to our team.