Probable Starters
Day Time Gnats (40-30/79-60) Starter GreenJackets (39-29/70-68) Starter
Wed 7:05 LHP Angel Cuan (10-3, 3.56) LHP Mike Kickham (5-10, 4.11)
Fri 7:05 RHP Taylor Whitenton (5-5, 2.49) RHP Shawn Sanford (10-10, 2.55)
**Sat 6:05 RHP Erik Goeddel (3-5, 3.39) RHP Taylor Rogers (12-10, 2.91)
**If necessary.
Players to Watch
SAVANNAH
RHP Taylor Whitenton: Led the SAL in ERA (2.49) and opponents’ batting average (.193) and finished second in WHIP (1.12)
C Albert Cordero: Led the Gnats, among all players with at least five games played, in batting average (.286)…. Hit .330/.373/.439 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with nine doubles, two triples and four homer runs in 59 games in the second half.
LHP Angel Cuan: Finished 10th in the SAL in ERA (3.56)… threw at least five innings in each of his last 13 starts and at least six innings in 11 of his last 13 starts…10 wins led the Gnats and tied for fourth in the SAL.
CF Darrell Ceciliani: Since August 1, hit .304/.409/.411 in his final 29 games and was successful on 10 of 11 attempts stealing bases
AUGUSTA
RHP Shawn Sanford: Voted the SAL Most Outstanding Pitcher, Sanford lost the League ERA title to Whitenton by six one hundredths of a run 2.49 to 2.55… He led the SAL in WHIP (1.02), was second in innings pitched (169.2), and fourth in batting average against (.226)
RHP Taylor Rogers: Number three in the SAL in ERA (2.91), in innings pitched (154.2), and in WHIP (1.13)
3B Adam Duvall: hit .285/.385/.527 with 30 doubles, 22 home runs… His .527 slugging percentage was third in the SAL and his 87 RBI were tied for third.
Series Preview
The Savannah Sand Gnats and Augusta GreenJackets, who played 21 times in 2011, will square off again this week in a best-of-three game series with the Southern Division title on the line. The GreenJackets qualified for the post-season on the final day of the regular season, capturing the second half title by beating Rome and while the Gnats lost two games in a doubleheader in Lexington. Had the Gnats won either of those games, Savannah would have been second half champions and faced the Greenville Drive in the SAL playoffs.
The Gnats, the SAL affiliate of the New York Mets, were 15-6 against the GreenJackets, SAL affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, in the regular season, 9-2 at home at Historic Grayson Stadium and 6-4 on the road.
The Gnats and GreenJackets became very familiar with each other early in the second half, when the two teams played 14 of the first 40 games after the All-Star break against each other. The Gnats were 9-5 against the GreenJackets in that stretch in late June through the first week of August.
Both teams feature two of the stronger pitching staffs in the SAL. The Gnats finished the regular season with the League’s top ERA (3.26) while the GreenJackets were fourth (3.70). A big piece of both teams’ success came from keeping the ball in the yard: the Gnats allowed the third fewest home runs in the SAL (76) while the GreenJackets (66) yielded the fewest. The Gnats missed more bats: Savannah pitching finished the year with 1058 strikeouts, fifth in the SAL, while the GreenJackets were dead last in the 14-team league with just 962 whiffs.
The Augusta GreenJackets last won the SAL Championship in 2008, which concluded a three-year run in from 2006-2008 in which the ‘Jackets made the playoffs every season.
The Gnats, who have won back-to-back first half titles in 2010 and 2011, are looking for their first championship since 1996. The Savannah franchise, first as the Cardinals and then as the Gnats, won three titles in four years, capturing the 1993, 1994 and 1996 SAL crowns. The Gnats were swept two games to nothing by the Greenville Drive in last years Southern Division Championship Series.
From team press release
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