Sand Gnats Win Doubleheader

Although it won’t officially go down as a doubleheader, the Drive (66-57, 28-25) lost a pair of games to the Savannah Sand Gnats (73-49, 34-19) by the scores of 3-1 and 10-5 on Thursday at Fluor Field.  With the losses, coupled with an Augusta GreenJackets victory, Greenville saw their lead in the Southern Division’s Wild Card race shrink to 4.0 games. In what was an awkward sight with the Drive as the visiting team at their home ballpark, game one was a conclusion of the August 13th game that was suspended at Grayson Stadium.  Five days, two stadiums, two states, and 280 miles later, the tilt finished with the Sand Gnats erasing Greenville’s 1-0 lead to capture a 3-1 victory. Relieving Scott Swinson, who tossed 4.0 scoreless frames in Savannah, Andrew Jones (0-1) kept the shutout going until the bottom of the seventh.  Following a one-out double by Joe Bonfe, Luis Nieves knotted the game with an RBI-single.  Darell Ceciliani then delivered a two-out single, which proved to be the eventual game-winning hit. Savannah tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth against Dennis Neuman, once again with a two-out, RBI-single, this time coming from Aderlin Rodriguez.  Michael Hebert (3-1) limited the Drive to just one hit in 4.0 shutout innings to earn the win. Early in game two, the Drive appeared to have shaken off the tough-luck loss that had less than an hour prior, as they broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second.  After Drew Hedman led off with a single, Xander Bogaerts hammered a 1-0 offering from Yohan Almonte (7-6) over the Green Monster for his 13th of the season. But the jubilation quickly turned sour, as the Sand Gnats batting around in both the third and fourth innings.  Sending 21 combined batters to the plate, Savannah sent Scott Swinson (3-4) to the showers early after a four-run third inning, while adding a five-spot an inning later against Charle Rosario. Each of the Sand Gnats first three batters singled to load the bases in the top of the third, and all came around to score when Rafael Fernandez tripled to deep centerfield.  Coupled with a throwing error by Bogaerts at shortstop, Fernandez also scored on the play. Savannah scored their five runs in the fourth on five more hits, highlighted by Aderlin Rodriguez’s two-run triple.  Blake Forsythe capped the visitor’s scoring in the top of the sixth, jumping  all over the first pitch thrown by Tyler Lockwood and sending it atop the roof of the Fieldhouse building beyond the Green Monster. Down seven runs, the Drive attempted to make the game respectable in the bottom of the fourth when Jacobs belted a solo homer, his 15th of the season.  Despite a two-run single by Sean Coyle an inning later, Greenville’s deficit was too great to overcome. The Drive and Sand Gnats continue their series on Friday, with first pitch set for 7:05 PM from Fluor Field.  Right-hander Miguel Celestino (8-5, 4.10 ERA) will toe the rubber for Greenville, while Savannah counters with right-hander Ryan Fraser (7-8, 3.43 ERA). From team press release