Savannah Sand Gnat starter Gabriel Ynoa got back to his winning ways Tuesday night, pitching another great game as he earned his 10th win of the season in the Gnats’ 8-1 victory over visiting Augusta.
Ynoa, who was selected for the South Atlantic League All-Star game last month, saw his streak of eight consecutive winning decisions end in his last start, a loss to Hickory last week. But the right-hander from the Dominican Republic didn’t waste any time getting back in the winner’s circle. He was perfect through the first three frames and ended up scattering six hits through 6 2/3 innings without allowing a run. He struck out five and walked just one batter as he improved to 10-3 this season.
The Gnats gave Ynoa all the support he would need in the bottom of the first by scoring three runs. Chad Zurcher and Brandon Nimmo led off the inning with walks, and Maikis De La Cruz followed with an infield single to load the bases.
Cole Frenzel walked to drive in a run and Eudy Pina hit a sacrifice fly to left to put Savannah up 2-0. Jeff Reynolds followed with a bunt single to score De La Cruz and make it 3-0.
Pina hit a shot over the left-field wall in the third for his ninth home run of the season. In the fourth, Zurcher singled, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a double to left by De La Cruz (3 for 5).
In the sixth Zurcher led off with a walk and scored on a two-out triple to right by Frenzel (2 for 4 with 3 RBIs) to put the Gnats up 6-0.
The Gnats added two more in the eighth when Nimmo was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by De La Cruz. Frenzel brought Nimmo in to score with a single to right field, and De La Cruz moved to third on a throwing error. Pina’s groundout brought De La Cruz home with Savannah’s final run of the game. Pina drove in three runs.
The Gnats, who had 13 hits and no errors on the night, improved to 51-36 overall and 8-10 in the second half with the win. Savannah will host Augusta at 7:05 tonight in the second game of their three-game series. It’s a Pack-the-Park Wednesday with tickets purchased directly through the Alee Shriners donated to their charity.
SAND GNATS 8, GREENJACKETS 1
Augusta ab r h bi Savannah ab r h bi
Galindo cf 5 0 1 0 Zurcher 2b 3 3 1 0
Brown 2b 5 1 2 0 Nimmo cf 3 2 1 0
Duffy ss 4 0 2 0 MDlacruz lf 5 2 3 1
Turner c 4 0 0 0 Frenzel 1b 4 0 2 3
Delfino 3b 4 0 2 0 Pina rf 4 1 1 3
Houck dh 3 0 1 0 Reynolds 3b 4 0 2 1
Rapp 1b 3 0 1 0 Evans ss 4 0 1 0
Rodriguez lf 4 0 0 0 Glenn dh 4 0 1 0
Cain rf 3 0 0 0 Cordero c 4 0 1 0
Totals 35 1 9 0 Totals 35 8 13 8
Augusta 000 000 010—1
Savannah 301 101 02x—8
E—Cain. DP—Savannah 1, Augusta 1. LOB—Savannah 10, Augusta 10 2B—Brown, Delfino, De La Cruz. 3B—Frenzel. HR—Pina (9). SF—Pina. SB—Galindo 2.
AUGUSTA IP H R ER BB SO
Biagini(L, 6-3) 4 8 5 5 3 3
Schumer 2 3 1 1 1 2
Gardeck 1 0 0 0 1 2
Mizenko 1 2 2 1 0 2
SAVANNAH IP H R ER BB SO
Ynoa(W, 10-3) 6.2 6 0 0 1 5
Morel .1 0 0 0 0 0
Vnderheiden .2 3 1 1 2 0
Wheeler 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
HBP—Nimmo (by Mizenko). T—2:45. A—1,297.