Gnats Game Notes: Saturday, June 19 @ Augusta - 7:05

From Press Release:

Savannah Sand Gnats (41-27, 1st, Southern) vs. Augusta GreenJackets (40-28, 2nd, Southern)

Game #69 - Road Game #34 - Saturday – 7:05

RHP Brandon Moore (3-4, 2.25) vs. RHP Andy Reichard (0-0, 0.00)

Lake Olmstead Stadium, Augusta, GA - Radio: WBMQ News/Talk 630, http://www.sandgnats.com/


Tonight: The Gnats, who lead the Augusta GreenJackets by one game for first place in the SAL Southern Division, will take their second crack at clinching the first half title tonight. Savannah needs one win tonight or tomorrow to secure its first playoff appearance since 1996.


Last Night: Augusta slammed the Gnats 7-1 to pull within a game of first place. After Savannah scored one run on a bases loaded chance in the top of the sixth, to make it 2-1, Augusta used a Ryan Cavan grand slam to score five times in the bottom of the seventh.

Now Pitching: Brandon Moore will make his 12th start for the Savannah Sand Gnats. The Gnats are 6-5 when Moore throws and have supported him with 3.9 runs per game, the second-lowest mark among Gnats pitchers. Moore is ninth in the SAL with a 2.25 ERA, and leads the League in strikeouts (91) and strikeout rate for starters (11.35 SO/9 IP) and is third in WHIP (0.93). Moore has thrown at least six innings in eight of his last nine starts. The only start in that span in which he did not throw six (May 23rd in Charleston) he was chased from the game by an hour and 27 minute rain delay. Moore was 6-3 with a 2.09 ERA in 82 innings over 13 starts for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2009, striking out 71 batters and walking 17. He threw the first no-hitter in Brooklyn Cyclones history on August 23, 2009 striking out six and walking three. The Brooklyn Cyclones beat the Aberdeen Ironbirds 5-0 in game one of a seven-inning doubleheader in Moore’s no-hitter. The Mets drafted Moore in the 14th round out of Indiana Wesleyan University in 2008 where he was the Mid-Central College Conference Player of the Year.



Half History: The Gnats have not won a half title in the SAL since winning the second half in 1994. The Savannah franchise won both halves of the Southern Division in 1993 and made the playoffs as a wild card in 1996, when the Division winners were Delmarva (Northern), Asheville (Central) and Columbus (Southern).


Vs. the GreenJackets: Savannah is 5-9 against Augusta this year, 4-6 in Augusta. The Gnats have outscored the ‘Jackets 54-48 in the teams’ 14 games this year.



Last Championship: The Savannah franchise has not made the playoffs since winning the SAL Championship as the Savannah Cardinals in 1996. The Cardinals, who made the playoffs as a wild card that year, beat the Delmarva Shorebirds, in their first year in the league, 3-2 in that series, sweeping a doubleheader to capture the league title.