In as dominating performance as a Savannah pitcher has had this season, Luis Cessa made it look easy as he shut down Charleston on Monday night to lead the Sand Gnats to a 6-0 win at Historic Grayson Stadium.
A crowd of 2,904 watched Cessa and the Sand Gnats continue their second-half surge to remain in the South Atlantic League Southern Division race.
The Gnats, who won the first half, entered Monday night’s game trailing first place Lexington by 2 games, and they closed to within a half game of the second-place Riverdogs in the opener of a three-game series, which was also the first game of a seven-game homestand.
Brandon Nimmo had three of the Gnats’ 12 hits, including a two-run home run in a five-run eighth inning that erased any doubt as to the eventual outcome.
Despite the late offensive outburst that turned it into a rout, the story of the game was Cessa, who was superb as he went a season-high eight innings and struck out 12. Cessa, 7-3, lowered his ERA to 3.12 as he won his third straight game.
Cessa, who allowed four hits, did not walk a batter. Paul Sewald pitched the ninth and added two strikeouts while giving up a single and the lone walk of the night by the Gnats.
The Gnats got the only run they needed in the third when it looked as if they had blown a golden opportunity.
Savannah loaded the bases with no one out against RiverDogs starter Eric Wooten, who went five innings and matched Cessa pitch-for-pitch.
After Nimmo followed his first inning double with a single to put a Gnat on every base, Wooten induced Maikis De La Cruz to hit into a double play and then struck out Cole Frenzel in limiting the damage to a minimum.
Cessa, who threw only 95 pitches, was in trouble only once. In the seventh he gave up a one-out double to Angelo Gumbs, but he got a great defensive play from catcher Albert Cordero who picked Gumbs off second.
That proved to be a big play as the next batter, Leonora Ericson, singled to left. However, he died on first when Raymond Nunez flew out to right. The seventh inning was the only inning Cessa failed to strike out a batter.
The Gnats sent 10 men to the plate in the eighth in breaking the game open. Nimmo had a two-run homer to right, his second of the year, to make it 3-0 and the Gnats then got run-scoring singles from Eudy Pina, Greg Pron and Cordero to assure Cessa of the win.
Nimmo, a first round pick in the 2011 draft, entered the game hitting only .147 in his last 10 games, .249 on the season, and .206 at home. Left-handers, in particular, have been a problem. Prior to the two hits against Wooten he was hitting. .182 against southpaws.
Gnats Notes
Gabrial Ynoa (12-4, 2.95 ERA) will get the call for the Gnats in the second game of the series. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Ynoa leads the SAL in victories. He has two more than Connor Sadzeck of Hickory, and he is ninth in the league in earned run average. ... It will be Natty Light Two for Tuesday tonight at Grayson. Wednesday will be Pack-The-Park with various charities or non-profits raising money through selling tickets. ... While the Gnats are in the thick of the fight to win the division in the second half of the season, they are assured a spot in the post-season playoffs by virtue of winning the first half of the Southern Division. The Gnats currently have playoff tickets on sale. The playoff format will have the Gnats taking on the second half division champion in a best-of-three series.
Lexington is leading the second half race. Should the Gnats win both halves, then they would play the wild card team which would be the Southern team with the second best overall record for the season.
chrlestn ab r h bi savannah ab r h bi
Cave cf 4 0 1 0 Rivero 2b 3 0 1 0
Culver ss 4 0 1 0 Nimmo cf 4 1 3 2
Bird 1b 3 0 0 0 M D L Crz dh 3 1 0 0
Gumbs 2b 4 0 1 0 Frenzel 1b 4 1 1 0
Leonora rf 4 0 1 0 Pina rf 4 1 2 1
Nunez dh 3 0 0 0 Pron lf 4 0 1 1
Aldrich lf 3 0 0 0 Rynolds 3b 4 0 1 0 Wilson c 3 0 0 0 Cordero c 4 0 1 1
Rosario 3b 0 0 0 0 Ponce ss 4 2 2 0
Totals 31 0 5 0 Totals 34 6 12 5
Charleston 000 000 000 – 0
Savannah 001 000 050 - 6
E—None. LOB—Charleston 5, Savannah 6. DP—Charleston. 2B—Gumbs, Nimmo,, Reynolds. HR—Nimmo (2). SB—Pina 2.
Charleston IP H R ER BB SO Wooten (L, 0-1) 5 6 1 1 0 4
Brebbia 1 0 0 0 0 2
Campos, J. 2 6 5 5 0 0
Savannah IP H R ER BB SO
Cessa (W, 7-3) 8 4 0 0 0 12
Sewald 1 1 0 0 1 2
WP—J. Campos. HBP—De La Cruz (by Campos). T—2:19. A—2,904.