The Gnats and Grasshoppers went to a winner take-all game five Saturday, which the Gnats lost 7-3.  You can read the blow-by-blow I wrote for sandgnats.com here.

The bottom line: it sucks to watch another team celebrate a championship on your field.  The ‘Hoppers won two games in the series in which they not only trailed going to the ninth, but with two outs in the ninth.  There was no such suspense in game five after a five-run fourth inning off Angel Cuan.  The ‘Hoppers were very deserving champions, who boasted the best lineup the Gnats had faced perhaps all year.  They ran very well as a team and played very good outfield defense and were solid up the middle on the infield.

RF Marcel Ozuna just killed the Gnats; he was 8-for-23 with a double, two homers and four walks and played superb defense, robbing the Gnats of at least extra-base hits in right.   The 20-year old had a big second half for Greensboro (.310/.371/.585 in 65 games) and is definitely a Marlins prospect for Mets fans to remember.

I got a bunch of emails and texts with the word “sorry” in it, as in readers saying “sorry the Gnats lost.”  I appreciate the thought, but sorry struck me as the wrong sentiment.  A win would have been much, much better.  However, the ride was a thrill.  The team played hard every night.  Just about every player improved measurably.  The season was undeniably a success even though the team came up one pitch short of a championship.

With the SAL championship on the line, the Grasshoppers scored five runs with two outs in the fourth and it was over from there. The Gnats were out-hit 16-6 in the deciding game.  Ooof.

I might come back with more thoughts on this one, or maybe not.

For right now, the Gnats lost and I’m going to sleep.

Greensboro Grasshoppers 12, @ Savannah Sand Gnats 10

One strike. The Gnats were one strike away from the South Atlantic League Championship with a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth inning Friday night. LHP Brandon Sage had a 1-2 count on the Grasshoppers’ leadoff man, Noah Perio with the tying run at third. The crowd was on their feet. Perio slapped the 1-2 through the left side to score the tying run. The ‘Hoppers eventually scored three runs in the 11th against Ronny Morla to capture game four and send the series to a winner-take-all game five.

The Gnats will host game five Saturday at 6:05 pm.

Here’s the sound of the game tying base hit:

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Part of the shame of the Grasshoppers’ comeback is that it changed the story away from a remarkable Gnats’ comeback. Trailing 7-2 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, the Gnats erupted for seven runs, the first six against Grasshoppers’ starter Rett Varner to take a 9-7 lead. 3B Aderlin Rodriguez and LF Alonzo Harris each picked up RBI singles, but the big hit was a three-run triple from red-hot CF Darrell Ceciliani.

Here’s the sound on Ceciliani’s triple:

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Why did the Grasshoppers have a big lead? Erik Goeddel, after five shutout innings in a deciding game three against Augusta got hit around Friday: 4 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 1 HP.

Rodriguez was 2-4 with a homer and was walked intentionally in the 10th inning with first base open. The long ball was his second of the four-game series.

The ‘Hoppers have won two games in this series, and in both,  the Gnats not only had a lead going to the ninth, but had a lead with two outs in the ninth.

The 24-year old Sage spent all of 2010 in the Savannah bullpen, making 40 appearances with a 3.07 ERA and an unremarkable 49 strikeouts against 12 walks in 58.2 innings pitched.  He began 2011 in St. Lucie, was promoted to Binghamton in early May and in nearly two months at AA ran a 7.84 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts, 13 walks and four homers. He re-joined the Gnats after getting sent down from St. Lucie on August 7th.  Perhaps throwing the final pitch in a South Atlantic League Championship clincher would have offered him some small measure of personal redemption, but it was not to be Friday.

@ Savannah Sand Gnats 4, Greensboro Grasshoppers 3

1B Joe Bonfe singled down the right field line with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Gnats a 4-3 win.

It sounded like this:

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The Gnats, who lead the best-of-five SAL Championship Series two games to one, are now one win from their first SAL Championship since 1996.

Bonfe didn’t just single home the game winner.  He was 3-6 with a double and a run scored early.  His double, his fourth of the series, was pulled down the left field line, just like his previous three.  This increased proclivity towards pulling the ball will likely be a subject on our pre-game show tonight.

CF Darrell Ceciliani had a great night at the top of the order, reaching base five times as part of a 3-for-4 night with two walks and two runs scored.  In his last 35 games, dating through August 1, Ceciliani is hitting .331/.431/.434 in 136 AB with a 14% walk rate (good), and a whopping .417 BABIP.

On the pitching side, Taylor Whitenton was strong, fanning eight without walking a batter in 6.2 innings.  He was touched for three runs on five hits, and four of the five hits went for extra-bases.  When Greensboro made contact – it was good contact.

The Gnats three lefty bullpen – Adam Kolarek, Hamilton Bennett and Chase Huchingson – combined on 4.1 scoreless innings, twice stranding a go-ahead runner at third.

Savannah Sand Gnats 7, @ Greensboro Grasshoppers 3

There were many nice performances in this one as the Gnats earned a split of the first two games of the SAL Championship series on the road.  The series now shifts to Savannah, where it becomes a best-of-three.  Oh, and the Gnats are 50-22 at home this year.

The first star of this one: Yohan Almonte.  Working in relief of starter Gonzalez Germen who fought through three innings, Almonte came in and threw five scoreless innings.  If the Greensboro stadium gun was accurate, Almonte was sitting at 90 mph.  He also did a really nice job with his slider at the bottom of the zone and out of the zone.

The second star: SS Wilfredo Tovar snapped an 0-for-14 skid to start the playoffs by going 3-for-5 with a double.

The third star: 3B Aderlin Rodriguez.  The 19-year old was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer that was absolutely, completely crushed to left field.

The Gnats were opportunistic in this one taking advantage of Greensboro mistakes to turn a 2-2 game into a 4-2 advantage.  The third run scored on a wild pitch, and the fourth on a throwing error on the shortstop Daniel Black.

Then the Gnats put the game away with a pair of longballs: 2B Luis Nieves pulled one out to right in the seventh, his first of 2011 and then Rodriguez pummeled a two-run shot an inning later in the eighth.

My home run calls:

Nieves

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Rodriguez

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@ Greensboro Grasshoppers 5, Savannah Sand Gnats 4

This was one of the craziest games of the Gnats’ season, a wildly entertaining and ultimately very disappointing game one of the best-of-five South Atlantic League Championship Series.

The Gnats took a 4-3 lead to the bottom of the ninth with dependable closer Hamilton Bennett on the hill.  The Grasshoppers actually won the game twice, but only one counted.  The second time, came with the bases loaded and two outs.  After Bennett walked three, the Gnats turned to Ronny Morla to face 1B Mark Canha, who lined Morla’s first delivery into rightcenter field to score the winning runs.

The first time the ‘Hoppers won the game in the ninth?  Wit ha runner at first and two outs, RF Marcel Ozuna hit a two-run home run down the left field line.  The Greensboro players started rushing towards home plate to celebrate.  However, the 3B umpire ruled the ball foul. The ‘Hoppers manager, Andy Haines, went nuts, and I think rightfully so, and got himself ejected.  Video of the play clearly showed that the ball was fair, and it wasn’t particularly close.  That was a 2-2 pitch.  Bennett eventually walked Ozuna and then LF Christian Yelich (after a balk, it became a semi-intentional walk) to load the bases.

So, yeah the Gnats were one strike away from a 1-0 lead in the series.  And eight of the last nine teams to win game one have gone on to win the SAL Championship Series.

Four paragraphs in, and I haven’t mentioned the Gnats’ star of Monday?  For shame.  Blake Forsythe was 2-3 with a pair of home runs.  His opposite field eighth-inning shot gave the Gnats the 4-3 lead the bullpen squandered in the ninth. In the third inning, he tied the game at 2-2 with a shot to left.  If Forsythe had played his home games in Greensboro this year, he would have hit 20 bombs easily.

Alonzo Harris’ solo homer in the fourth, which was absolutely crushed, gave the Gnats a brief 3-2 lead.  The GreenJackets evened the game on their second homer of the night leading off the fifth against Angel Cuan.  Cuan also gave up a two-run shot to Ozuna in the first that put Greensboro in front 2-0 in the first.

It was a game where there could have been many more runs scored: each team left the bases loaded twice.  In fact, the Gnats had the bases loaded with one out twice, and did not get a run out of either opportunity.  To be fair, in the first with two outs and the bases loaded, 3B Aderlin Rodriguez was robbed of a three-run double on a diving catch in right by Ozuna.

The Gnats look for their first SAL Championship since 1996 tonight in Greensboro.  I put up a lengthy series preview here at sandgnats.com.

The winner of game one of the SAL Championship series has won eight of the last nine championships.

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