Today:
The Savannah Sand Gnats, SAL affiliate of the New York Mets, begin seven-game home
stand and a three-game series against the Delmarva Shorebirds, SAL affiliate of the Baltimore
Orioles.
Yesterday:
The South Atlantic League enjoyed a league-wide off day for travel. In their last game,
on Monday, the Gnats beat the Lexington Legends 10-9 in 12 innings on the strength of a five home
run game, a season high, including two from OF
Travis Taijeron. Taijeron also doubled and scored
the winning run in the 12
th inning to give the Gnats a winning road trip at 4-3.
Now Pitching:
LHP Alex Panteliodis will make his fifth start of the year for the Gnats. In his last
start, a 2-1 loss in West Virginia, Panteliodis yielded just a run on three hits over six innings with
two walks and two strikeouts. Panteliodis is second behind Greenville’s Matt Barnes (0.34) in the
SAL in ERA (0.89). He and Barnes are the only two pitchers with enough innings to qualify for the
league leaderboard with ERAs under 1.00. Panteliodis is fourth in the SAL in opponents’ batting
average (.176). The Mets drafted Panteliodis in the ninth round 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 10
th 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 2-2 when Panteliodis starts and have
supported him with 4.75 runs per game (19 runs/4 games).
TJ’s Hot Start:
Infielder TJ Rivera is third in the SAL in batting average at .389, second in hits
(37) and on-base percentage (.478) and fourth in slugging percentage (.600). He is fourth in total
bases (57). Rivera hit .406 (13-for-32) with a double and four home runs and 12 RBI on the Gnats’
recent 7-game road trip.
Terrible Taijeron: Travis Taijeron
is second in the SAL with six home runs and second in
HR/AB with one long ball ever 13.33 AB. In 13 games on the road, Taijeron is hitting
.333/.500/.733 with three doubles and five home runs with a 12/14 BB/K ratio in 45 AB. In 10
games at home, he is hitting .171/.268/.286 with one double, one home run and 3 BB/10 K in 35
AB.
Not Home Sweet Home:
The Gnats are currently 4-7 at home at Historic Grayson Stadium and 10-
4 on the road. Last year’s Gnats team finished a league-best 48-22 at home and was 31-38 on the
road.
Sweet Music: Frank Viola,
in his second year as a pitching coach in the Mets system, will serve as the Gnats’ Pitching Coach in 2011 after
working in a similar capacity for the Brooklyn Cyclones in the short-season-A New York-Penn League in 2011. Viola, a three-time All-Star, won
the 1988 American League Cy Young Award and the 1987 World Series MVP.
Vs. Delmarva:
This is the first meeting of the year between the Gnats and Shorebirds and the first visit to Savannah for Delmarva since August
14-17, 2009 when the Gnats and Shorebirds split a four-game series. Since becoming a Mets’ affiliate in 2009, the Gnats are 4-13 against
Delmarva and were swept in a five-game series in Delmarva in 2011.
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