Gant and the Gnats Take Game One in Rome

Savannah Sand Gnats @ Rome Braves

August 29, 2014

John Gant @ Matt Marksberry

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Savannah	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	1	0		6	8	2
Rome	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0		5	9	1

Win: Gant (11-5, 2.56 ERA); Loss Marksberry (5-10, 3.55 ERA); Save: Frias (4)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

John Gant – 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 SO, HBP, 9 GO: 3 FO

Darwin Frias (2.98 ERA) – 1.2 IP, 2 SO, 3 FO, 2 IR – 0 S

Batters

Jorge Rivero – 1-5, R, HR (5), 2 RBI (31), 2 SO

Matt Oberste – 1-5, R, 2 SO

Jon Leroux – 1-4, 3 SO

Victor Cruzado – 1-3, 2 R, BB, SB (10), SO

Colton Plaia – 1-4, R, HR (4), RBI (30)

Nelfi Zapata – 2-4, RBI (12), SO

Patrick Biondi – 1-3, R, RBI (30), BB

Recap:

            John Gant was a strike-throwing machine, and the Gnats bullpen was just able to hold on Friday night in Rome. It’s likely he reached his inning limit for the start, because with only 67 pitches thrown, Gant could’ve gone another 2-3 innings easy. The Braves jumped on him for a run on two hits in the 1^st, though the RBI single was a 70-foot dribbler just out of Gant’s reach. Gant would set Rome down in order over the next two innings, but some defensive miscues in the 4^th led to another Braves run (although this one was uncharged). First, there was an error charged to the shortstop Yeixon Ruiz on a ball that deflected off the lip of the infield grass awkwardly – this may be overturned later. Later in the inning, Ruiz didn’t know where to throw a routine grounder hit his way, and everyone ended up safe with the bases loaded. The offense would finally get on the board in the 5^th, thanks to homeruns from Colton Plaia and Jorge Rivero. They’d tack on two more in the 6^th, including one on a bases loaded walk, and then add one huge insurance run in the 8^th. The Braves would make things interesting off of Ricky Knapp in the 8^th, but Darwin Frias came in to calm things down, stranding two inherited runners in the 8^th, and finishing the game with a strikeout in the 9^th.

Sand Gnats Lose Rubbermatch in Rome, Taylor Strong Over 5.1 IP (Pitch Coverage, gifs)

Savannah Sand Gnats @ Rome Braves

August 21, 2014

Logan Taylor @ Brandon Barker

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Savannah	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		2	5	0
Rome	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	X		3	5	0

Win: Kimbrel (2-2, 5.82 ERA); Loss: Frias (5-2, 3.31 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Logan Taylor (2.89 ERA) – 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, HR, 8 GO: 1 FO

Darwin Frias – 2.1 IP, H, R, BB, 3 SO, HBP, 1 GO: 2 FO

Batters

Yeixon Ruiz – 1-5, R, 3B (5), RBI (35), SO, GIDP

Champ Stuart – 1-3, RBI (22), BB, SF, SB (25)

Dominic Smith – 1-4, BB, SB (5)

Jonathan Johnson – 1-3, BB, 2 SB (6), SO

Colton Plaia – 1-3, BB

Recap:

            The Sand Gnats offense missed some early opportunities and got shut down late Thursday night, as Savannah lost the rubber game in Rome. Savannah starter Logan Taylor was very effective over his 5.1 IP, but some high pitch at-bats early prevented him from going deeper into the game. He just kept getting better throughout the game though, retiring four of his last five batters via the strikeout. Darwin Frias and John Mincone came out of the pen for the Gnats and were pretty effective over the final 2.2 IP, but Rome reliever Matt Kimbrel was a little better out of the Braves pen, allowing only two hits and two walks in four shutout innings. Rome would pick up a big two out hit from Carlos Franco off Mincone in the 8^th to go ahead for good 3-2.