Rome 7 - Savannah 3

The Rome Braves defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats 7-3 Sunday afternoon at Historic Grayson Stadium to snap a pair of streaks. Entering Sunday, the Gnats had won five games in a row, while the Braves had dropped five straight.

The Braves (9-21) grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With the bases loaded, LF Joey Meneses pounded a bases-clearing double off the right field wall to drive home all three runners.

The Gnats (19-9) picked up a run back in their half of the second inning. 1B Dominic Smith walked and scored on SS Gavin Cecchini’s sacrifice fly. Cecchini also extended his hitting streak to a season-best seven games with a first-inning single.

Rome added two runs in the third inning for a 5-1 lead. C Victor Caratini singled and then DH AJ Kirby Jones lined a two-run shot over the rightfield wall, his third homerun in five games with Rome.

The Gnats picked up a run back in the bottom of the third inning when DH Jared King singled home 2B LJ Mazzilli.

Savannah starter Chris Flexen held the Braves off the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth innings, but was tagged with his third loss of 2014 for allowing five runs on eight hits in five innings.

Rome reliever Colby Holmes worked three scoreless innings from the fourth through six innings to earn his first win of the year.

The Braves tacked on single runs in the eighth and ninth innings against Savannah reliever Tim Peterson.

The Gnats made the final score 7-3 with a run of their own in the bottom of the ninth, but the rally ended two runners shy of getting the tying run to the plate. - team press release