GREENVILLE S.C.— A day after one of the most lopsided losses in franchise history, the Savannah Sand Gnats rebounded with a 7-6 win over Greenville in 11 innings.
The Gnats put a 21-1 loss against Greenville on Friday night by winning a nail-biter Saturday.
Savannah’s Champ Stuart drew a five-pitch walk off Taylor Grover to lead off the top of the 11th. He immediately stole second, his sixth steal of the season. Yeixon Ruiz flew out to right, deep enough for Stuart to tag up and advance to third. Victor Cruzado brought him in with the go-ahead run with a line-drive single to right.
All-Star reliever Akeel Morris came in to pitch the bottom half of the 11th and shut the door on Greenville by striking out Carlos Asuaje to end the game for his fourth save of the year. Morris lowered his ERA to 0.27.
The Gnats took the lead in the second when Nelfi Zapata stroked a one-out double to left field, and came around to score on a clutch two-out single to center by Jeff Glenn.
In the top of the fourth, Dominic Smith led off with a double to left. Zapata brought him home with a double to center. Stefan Sabol singled to move Zapata to third and then stole second — setting up a two-run single by Glenn that put the Gnats up 4-0.
Greenville rallied with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Manuel Margot had an RBI single but was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double by Gnats center fielder Stuart. Later in the inning, Jake Romanski had an RBI double to left and eventually scored on Jimmy Rider’s single.
Savannah added two in the sixth when Jorge Rivero singled and moved to third on a double by Sabol. Glenn delivered again with his fourth RBI of the night, plating Rivero with a line-drive single to left. Sabol later scored on a force out by Ruiz.
But Greenville responded with a two-run single by Forrestt Allday in its half of the sixth.
Gnat reliever Hunter Carnevale entered in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and the bases loaded. But a passed ball by Glenn allowed Tzu-Wei Lin to score as Greenville tied it up at 6-6.
The bottom third of the Gnats lineup went 9 for 15 with five RBIs and four runs scored. Zapata had three doubles and went 3 for 5. Glenn was 3 for 5 with four RBIs and Sabol went 3 for 5 with a double, stolen base and run scored.
Savannah ab r h bi Greenville ab r h bi
Stuart cf 3 1 1 0 Allday rf 5 0 3 2
Ruiz ss 6 0 0 1 Lin ss 6 0 2 0
Crzdo rf 6 0 1 1 Roberson 1b 3 0 1 0
Leroux dh 6 0 0 0 Peralta pr 0 0 0 0
Asuaje lf 6 0 1 0
Smith 1b 6 1 1 0 Rijo 2b 5 1 1 0
Rivero 2b 5 1 2 0 Margot cf 5 0 2 1
Zapata 3b 5 2 3 1 Perkins dh 4 3 2 0
Sabol lf 5 2 3 0 Romanski c 5 2 3 1
Glenn c 5 0 3 4 Rider 3b 5 0 1 1
Totals 47 7 14 7 Totals 44 6 16 5
Sav. 010 032 000 01 -- 7 14 1
Greenville 000 302 010 00 -- 6 16 3
E—Stuart, Margo, Rijo, Lin. DP—Savannah 1, Greenville 2. LOB—Savannah 10, Greenville 10. 2B—Zapata 3, Smith, Sabol, Rijo, Romanski, Asuaje. SB—Sabol, Stuart, Rijo, Romanski. CS—Allday 2, Lin.
SAVANNAH IP H R ER BB SO
Panteliodis 5 1/3 13 4 4 1 2
Frias 2 1/3 3 2 1 2 2
Carnevale W,1-0 2 1/3 0 0 0 1 2
Morris S,4 1 0 0 0 1 1
GREENVILLE IP H R ER BB SO
Ball 4 6 4 4 1 2
Aro 4 6 2 2 1 3
Grover L,2-0 3 2 1 1 1 5
WP—Frias 2, Grover. PB—Glenn. HBP—Allday (Frias). T—3:50. A—6,089.