LEXINGTON, KY. — The Lexington Legends jumped out to an early lead and added some insurance late to beat the Sand Gnats 6-2 Friday night.
The Sand Gnats, who closed out the first half of the season with six straight wins to clinch the South Atlantic League’s South Division first half title, saw their seven-game winning streak snapped.
Lexington jumped out to an early lead in its first at bat by playing some small ball. Terrance Gore laid down a bunt single to lead off the frame, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Raul Mondesi, the son of the former Dodger standout, laid down another bunt single that moved Gore to third. Mark Threlkeld drilled an RBI single to right to score Gore and Mondesi eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Bubba Starling to put Lexington up 2-0.
The Legends added a run in the third when Mondesi doubled to center field off Gnat starter Matt Koch, before coming around to score on a single by Mark Donato. Fred Ford hit a solo shot to center for his eighth home run of the year to put the Legends up 4-0 in the fourth.
Savannah broke through for a pair of runs in the fifth. Nelfi Zapata walked and Phillip Evans hit a two-run homer to right, his second round tripper of the year, to cut the Legend lead in half.
The Legends added insurance, scoring a run on an RBI groundout by Gore in the seventh. Donato’s RBI double in the eighth gave the Legends a 6-2 lead.
Koch (5-3) was tagged with the loss after giving up four earned runs on eight hits in six innings of work. Tyler Vanderheiden allowed a pair of runs on three hits in two innings of relief for the Gnats.
Lexington starter Daniel Stumph improved to 5-5 on the season, allowing a pair of runs on four hits in five innings. Chas Byrne and Mark Peterson, each threw two shutout innings of relief for Lexington, as Peterson picked up his sixth save of the year.
The third game of the four-game series is set for tonight at 7:05. The Gnats return home Thursday to take on the Rome Braves.
Savannah ab r h bi Lexington ab rh bi
Zurcher 2b 4 0 0 0 Gore lf 4 1 1 1
Pina dh 4 0 1 0 Mondesi ss 4 2 2 0
Nimmo cf 3 0 1 0 Thrlkeld 1b 4 1 2 1
MDeLaCruz rf 3 0 1 0 Donato dh 3 0 3 2
Pron lf 4 0 1 0 Starling cf 3 0 1 1
Cordero c 3 0 0 0 Gallagher c 4 0 0 0
Reynolds 3b 4 0 1 0 Antonio 3b 3 1 0 0
Zapata 1b 2 1 1 0 Ford rf 3 1 2 1
Evans ss 4 1 1 2 Dkroeger 2b 3 0 0 0
Totals 31 2 7 2 Totals 31 6 11 6
Savannah 000 020 000 — 2
Lexington 201 100 11x — 6
E—Antonio. LOB—Savannah 8, Lex. 3. DP—Savannah 2, Lexington 2. 2B—Mondesi, Donato. 3B—M. De La Cruz. HR—Ford (8), Evans (2). SF—Starling. SB—. CS—Starling, Pron.
SAVANNAH IP H R ER BBSO
Koch(L, 5-2) 6 8 4 4 1 4
Vanderheiden 2 3 2 2 0 2
LEXINGTON IP H R ER BBSO
Stumph(W, 5-5) 5 4 2 2 4 6
Byrne 2 2 0 0 0 1
Peterson(S, 6) 2 1 0 0 1 0
WP—Koch, Vanderheiden. HBP— M. De La Cruz (by Stumph). T—2:30. A—6,491.