Game #9 Savannah Sand Gnats (4-4, t-4th, Southern) vs. Rome Braves (5-3, t-2nd, Southern)
Road Game #1 RHP Collin McHugh (0-1, 9.00) RHP Arodys Vizcaino (1-0, 7.20)
Friday – 7:00 State Mutual Stadium - Rome, GA Radio: WBMQ News/Talk 630, http://www.sandgnats.com/
Tonight: The Gnats play their first road game of the year at Rome to begin a four-game series and an eight-game road trip to Rome and Augusta.
Last Night: The Gnats snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Augusta 4-1. Starter Mark Cohoon gave up just one run over six innings and struck out five. SS Wilmer Flores was 2-3 with a walk and an RBI.
Now Pitching: Colin McHugh will make his second start for the Sand Gnats this evening. McHugh gave up a three-run home run to West Virginia’s CF Evan Chambers before he retired a batter in his first start on April 11. He did not allow another run in his three innings of work in a 6-1 Savannah loss. McHugh has moved through the Mets system one level a year, pitching for Kingsport in ’08 and Brooklyn in ’09. With Brooklyn, he was 8-2 with a 2.76 ERA in 75 innings over 14 starts. He struck out 79 batters and walked 21 while yielding only one home run. The Mets selected McHugh in the 18th round of the 2008 draft out of Berry (GA) College. In his junior season with Berry, he led the Southern States Athletic Conference with 9.05 strikeouts per nine innings. He finished his Berry career with a 13-9 record with five saves and 167 strikeouts and 66 walks in 171.1 collegiate innings.
Contact! In his first 34 plate appearances, 18-year old shortstop Wilmer Flores is hitting .386 (12 H/33 AB), with one walk, and has not yet struck out. He drew his first walk on Thursday night. As a team, the Gnats have struck out just 56 times, the fewest of any unit in the SAL.
Four is the Magic Number: The Gnats are 4-0 when they score four or more runs and 0-4 when they score three runs or fewer.
Pitching In: Gnats pitching is tied with Augusta for the top ERA (2.25) in the SAL. Gnats pitching has allowed the second-fewest hits (48), one behind Rome (47) and is tied with Rome for the fourth-most strikeouts in the league (72).
Bottom of the Barrel: The Gnats are 11th in the SAL in runs scored (26), and 12th in batting average (.233), on-base percentage (.293) and slugging percentage (.315). Savannah is the only SAL team which has not homered. The Gnats are tied for second with six hit-by pitches.
On the Road: The Gnats were 33-38 on the road last year compared to 32-34 at home. The Gnats hit .254/.316/.382 (AVG/OBP/SLG) on the road and .250/.313/.340 at home. At home, the Gnats had a 2.62 ERA and allowed 3.8 runs per game, while those numbers jumped to a 3.84 ERA and 4.43 runs per game away from Grayson Stadium.
Roster Update: On Wednesday, RHP Johan Figuereo was placed on the Gnats disabled list with a strained right pectoral muscle. Catcher Michael Moras, who was on the inactive list, was activated for Wednesday’s game. Moras, the Mets 20th round pick in 2008 out of the University of New Haven, split 2009 between Kingsport and Savannah, totaling just 25 games between the two teams. Jefry Marte remains on the Gnats’ disabled list and is eligible to return to action today.
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