Before the Sand Gnats could entertain the crowd of 4,664 at Grayson Stadium with the regular fireworks display on Saturday night, Jayce Boyd produced one very big explosion.
The Savannah first baseman’s solo home run in the sixth lifted the Sand Gnats to a 3-2 victory over the Rome Braves on Pink in the Park night, a promotion in suport of cancer awareness.
It was the largest crowd to see a Gnats game in Savannah since Opening Night, April 9, 2009 (4,780).
Boyd’s third homer of the season came with one out in the sixth and gave the Gnats a 3-1 lead. He finished the game 2 for 4 and is hitting .374 on the season.
Savannah (21-12) had scored first in the fourth on Eudy Pina’s single, Kevin Plawecki’s one-out double and Cole Frenzel’s RBI groundout to first. Maikis De La Cruz delivered a two-out single to score Plawecki.
Rome (19-14) responded a run in the top of the sixth. With one out, Savannah starter Robert Gsellman walked Levi Hyams, and Josh Elander singled. Julian Hilario relieved Gsellman and yielded Casey Kalenkosky’s sacrifice fly to right to score Hyams. Hilario then struck out Carlos Franco.
The Braves closed to 3-2 in the eighth. Blake Brown led off with a double. With two outs, Hunter Carnevale replaced Hilario and gave up Josh Elander’s RBI double. Carnevale walked Kalenkosky before striking out Franco.
Rome put together a little bit of drama in the ninth. Bret Mitchell relieved Carnevalle and walked Joey Meneses with two outs. With pinch-runner Felix Marte aboard, Mitchell threw an errant pickoff and Marte went to second. Mitchell then struck out Brown to end the game.
Gsellman (1-0), who was assigned to Savannah on Saturday, earned the victory with 5 1/3 innings of work. He allowed four hits and one run (earned) with two walks and two strikeouts. Mitchell collected his sixth save.
The Gnats had a roster spot open for Gsellman after second baseman Chad Zurcher went on the seven-day disabled list with a left wrist sprain. Outfielder Brandon Nimmo went on the DL on Tuesday with a left hand contusion.
Rome ab r h bi Savannah ab r h bi
Peraza ss 4 0 0 0 YDeLaCrz 2b 4 0 1 0
Hyams 2b 3 1 0 0 Pina cf 4 1 1 0
Elander lf 4 0 3 1 Boyd 1b 4 1 2 1
Kalenkosky 1b 2 0 1 1 Plawecki dh 3 1 1 0
Franco dh 3 0 0 0 Frenzel 3b 3 0 1 1
Anselment c 4 0 2 0 MDeLaCrz rf 3 0 1 1
Luna 3b 4 0 0 0 Glenn c 3 0 0 0
Meneses rf 3 0 0 0 Sabol lf 3 0 0 0
Marte rf 0 0 0 0 Evans ss 3 0 0 0
Brown cf 4 1 1 0
Totals 31 2 7 2 Totals 00 0 0 0
Rome 000 001 010 — 2
Savannah 000 201 00x — 3
E—Mitchell. DP—Savannah 1. LOB—Rome 7, Savannah 3. 2B—Brown, Elander, Plawecki, Frenzel. HR—Boyd (3). SF—Kalenkosky. SB—Y.De La Cruz. CS—Franco.
ROME IP H R ER BB SO
W.Perez L,3-3 6 7 3 3 0 2
Jadofsky 2 0 0 0 0 1
SAVANNAH IP H R ER BB SO
Gsellman W,1-0 5 1/3 4 1 1 2 2
Hilario 2 1/3 2 1 1 0 1
Carnevale 1/3 1 0 0 1 1
Mitchell S,6 1 0 0 0 1 1
WP—W.Perez. T—2:30. A—4,664.