Gnats Sting Braves

Rome, GA – The Savannah Sand Gnats defeated the Rome Braves 5-4 in front of 4,762 fans Saturday night at State Mutual Stadium.

The Gnats struck in the first inning for the early lead. Richard Lucas led off with a walk and Jose Jimenez followed with an RBI double. Jordan Abruzzo and Fransico Pena would both single and Jimenez would come around to score making it 2-0 Savannah.

Rome would close the gap in the bottom of the second when Samuel Sime singled to center and Javier Dominguez followed with a walk. Cole Miles then added a single scoring Sime to make it a 2-1 game.

In the bottom of the fifth the Braves would take the lead 3-2. Jason Heyward and Cody Johnson walked, and a double steal put them on second and third. Freddie Freeman then singled to center scoring Heyward and Johnson putting Rome in front 3-2. The lead would not hold up however, when Matt Bouchard walked in the eighth and a wild pitch moved him to second. Jimenez also walked and Abruzzo doubled to left scoring Bouchard and moving Jimenez to third. Fransico Pena then singled to center scoring Jimenez and Abruzzo making it 5-3 Savannah.

The Braves would attempt a comeback in the ninth scoring one run off of an Adam Coe RBI single but the Gnats bullpen would hold on to notch the 5-4 victory.

Edgar Ramirez gets the win (2-0) going three innings and striking out three. Chad Rogers suffers the loss (1-3) in relief of Jose Ortegano who went six innings gave up only two earned runs and struck out seven. Jose Bierd gets the save (2).

Rome and Savannah start game three of the series tomorrow afternoon at two. It’s Rome News Family Day with a special autograph session beginning at 12:30. For ticket information, contact the Rome Braves at 706-378-5144 or log onto www.romebraves.com.