Blue Claws vs. Gnats

Tonight: The Savannah Sand Gnats, SAL affiliate of the New York Mets, take on Lakewood

BlueClaws, SAL affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies in the final game of a four-game series. Savannah is 5-1 on their current seven-game home stand.

Last Night: Savannah pitchers Jacob deGrom and Carlos Vazquez faced one over the minimum in a one-hit shutout as the Gnats beat the BlueClaws 5-0. deGrom gave the Gnats 6.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts, his longest outing as a professional. Savannah scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to break a scoreless tie. Two hits each produced two runs: C Albert Cordero ground a double down the right field line and SS Luis Nieves blooped a single into shallow rightcenter. Nieves was 3-for-3; his first three-hit game of 2012.

Now Pitching: P Alex Panteliodis will make his sixth start of the year for the Gnats. In his last start, a 7-1 victory over Delmarva to begin the home stand, Panteliodis threw six shutout innings with five strikeouts. He yielded just two hits, two walks and hit a batter. Panteliodis is second behind Greenville’s Matt Barnes (0.34) in the SAL in ERA (0.68). He and Barnes are the only two pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the league leader board with ERAs under 1.00. Panteliodis is fourth in the SAL in WHIP (0.99) and second in opponents’ batting average (.160). The Mets drafted Panteliodis in the ninth round in 2011 with the 282 nd overall selection out of the University of Florida. As a Gator, in his three-year career, Panteliodis was 23-10 with a 3.81 ERA in 58 appearances including 38 starts. In 2011, he made 12 starts and six relief appearances with a 3.71 ERA including 47 strikeouts and nine walks in 63 innings of work. Overall, he’s 10th in Florida history in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (1.91) and was eighth in pickoffs (nine). Surgery on the labrum in his left hip in 2011 prevented him from pitching as a professional. In high school at Alonso HS (FL), was named first-team all-state Class 6A and was the Florida Athletic Coaches District 13 Player of the Year. He threw a five-inning perfect game, the first in school history. Played on the 2006 USA Junior National Team that went 9-0 and won the gold medal at the Pan Am Championships in Barquisimeto, VZ. The Gnats are 3-2 when Panteliodis starts and have supported him with 5.2 runs per game (26 runs/5 games).