The Savannah Sand Gnats were determined not to back their way into the Southern Division’s first-half title, and they also seemed intent on making their clinching victory Friday night as dramatic as possible.
The host Sand Gnats went 12 innings before edging the Greenville Drive 2-1 on Brandon Nimmo’s walk-off sacrifice fly to score Jeff Reynolds from third base as the remainder of the 3,017 in attendance cheered at Grayson Stadium.
Savannah (41-26) won the title in the Class A South Atlantic League’s first half as Charleston (38-28) lost earlier to Augusta 4-1 to put the Gnats up 2 1/2 games with only two left before the All-Star break.
“We have a great mix,” said Savannah’s second-year manager Luis Rojas. “We have everything on this team. We have pitching to speed to defense to timely hitting. I think it’s a well-balanced team and a great group of guys.”
The team automatically qualified for the league’s postseason, but it had to wait to break out the sparkling wine after the 3 hours and 27 minutes of play.
With one out in the 12th, Reynolds and Phillip Evans singled off Gerardo Olivares and Eudy Pina walked for to load the bases. When Nimmo stepped up to the plate, it was eerily similar to the scenario Tuesday night, when his walk-off walk beat Asheville 1-0 in 11 innings.
“It was nice to already have this experience under the belt twice in one week,” Nimmo said.
He worked a full count and on the eighth pitch lifted a flyball to center field, where Cody Koback could not throw out Reynolds at home.
“(Olivares) threw me a strike so I had to swing the bat,” Nimmo said. “Luckily we got enough of one to get one out there.”
Greenville added to the drama by tying the game 1-1 in the eighth. Mookie Betts greeted reliever Paul Sewald with a single to center, and Jose Vinicio hit an opposite-field double. Left fielder Stefan Sabol made a nice pickup of the ball off the wall as Betts held at third.
Sewald struck out Koback, but David Chester’s groundout scored Betts.
Savannah got on the board first when Maikis De La Cruz led off the second inning with a double, took third on Sabol’s single and scored on Cole Frenzel’s groundout.
There was more cheering in the ninth inning, but it was for one of the Greenville players. Reliever J.B. Wendelken, a former South Effingham High School star who played at Middle Georgia College, entered the game and struck out the first two batters he faced. The right-hander finished with two perfect innings and three strikeouts.
The Sand Gnats were holding onto that slim 1-0 lead with they ran into trouble in the top of the sixth. Savannah starter Steven Matz (10 strikeouts) had a two-strike count on Betts before allowing a clean single to center. After Matz caught Vinicio’s popped-up sacrifice bunt attempt, he was relieved by Julian Hilario in an apparent pitch-count move.
Then it really got interesting. Betts stole second base and Hilario balked him to third. Koback worked a walk as the go-ahead run.
Hilario struck out Chester, then walked Mario Martinez to load the bases and cause a visit from pitching coach Frank Viola. Hilario struck out Drew Turocy on three pitches to end the threat and stir the crowd.
Savannah returned the favor in the bottom of the sixth, when Nimmo’s double and Jayce Boyd’s single put runners at first and third with no outs. But Greenville starter Jacob Dahlstrand coaxed Kevin Plawecki’s foul out and struck out De La Cruz and Sabol to keep the score 1-0.
Note
The Sand Gnats placed right-handed pitcher Jake Kuebler, the winning pitcher Thursday, on the disabled list because of back tightness. They activated infielder Chad Zurcher, who had been sidelined by a wrist sprain, from the DL.
Greenville ab r h bi Savannah ab r h bi
Betts 2b 6 1 3 0 Pina dh 5 0 0 0
Vinicio ss 5 0 1 0 Nimmo cf 4 0 1 1
Koback cf 4 0 1 0 Boyd 1b 3 0 2 0
Chester dh 5 0 0 0 Plawecki c 4 0 0 0
Martinez 3b 4 0 0 0 Pron pr 0 0 0 0
Turocy rf 5 0 1 0 Glenn c 0 0 0 0
Moanaroa 1b 4 0 0 0 MDeLaCruz rf 5 1 2 0
Heller lf 5 0 1 0 Sabol lf 5 0 1 0
Weems c 4 0 0 1 Frenzel 3b 5 0 0 1
Reynolds 2b 5 1 2 0
Evans ss 5 0 2 0
Totals 42 1 7 1 Totals 41 2 10 2
Greenville 000 000 010 000 - 1
Savannah 010 000 000 001 - 2
DP—Greenville 3. LOB—Greenville 10, Savannah 10. 2B—Vinicio, Turocy, Betts, M. De La Cruz 2, Nimmo. SF—Nimmo. SB—Betts, Sabol, Pron. PO—Weems (1st base by Plawecki).
GREENVILLE IP H R ER BB SO
Dahlstrand 6 5 1 1 2 5
Rivera 2 3 0 0 1 1
Wendelken 2 0 0 0 0 3
Olivares L,1-2 1 2/3 2 1 1 2 0
SAVANNAH IP H R ER BB SO
Matz 5 1/3 2 0 0 2 10
Hilario 1 2/3 1 0 0 2 3
Sewald 3 2 1 1 1 3
Mitchell W,3-2 2 0 0 0 0 3WP—Dahlstrand 2. Balk—Hilario. T—3:27. A—3,017.