Sand Gnats' Gant flirts with no-no

As the ball off Carlos Garcia's bat bounced through the right side of the infield for Lexington's first hit of the game, it was easy for Savannah starter John Gant to shrug it off.

He had kept the Legends off the first two columns of the scoreboard for the first 5 1/3 innings and was five outs from pitching a no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader. But given the limitations of a Minor League twinbill, the Mets prospect knew the deepest he could go Sunday was seven innings. And a seven-inning no-hitter wouldn't do.

"I knew it was there, but if it's a seven-inning game, a no-hitter wouldn't really have counted in my book, at least," Gant said of what would have been Savannah's first no-no since 1989. "Because you've got to go the full nine innings for it to count, I think. It's always in the back of your mind, but it wasn't a big deal."

Garcia's single turned out to be Lexington's only hit off Gant, who struck out eight and issued one walk to pitch the Sand Gnats to a 5-0 win Lexington at Grayson Stadium. It was his second complete game and shutout of the season -- the first coming in the second game of a doubleheader against Augusta on June 12.

The 21-year-old right-hander needed only 30 pitches to retire the first nine batters. The Legends did not get their first baserunner until Frank Schwindel reached on shortstop Yeixon Ruiz's two-out error in the fourth.

Gant's first hiccup came two innings later when he walked Alexis Rivera leading off the sixth. Garcia singled two batters later, and even if he knew his chance at Sand Gnats history was gone, Gant rebounded as if something was still on the line. After Rivera took third on a wild pitch and Garcia stole second, he caught Kenny Diekroger looking for a strikeout and got Schwindel to pop out.

The 2011 21st-round Draft pick worked a 1-2-3 seventh and threw 59 of 88 pitches for strikes in his third career complete game.

"Everything happens for a reason," Gant said of Garcia's base hit. "It would've been great, but it's just not a real no-hitter, I don't think. All I was focused on was getting the next two batters out, and that was it."

While the hit numbers were low, Gant's strikeout numbers were high, continuing a trend that began at the start of the month. The 6-foot-3 Savannah native, who possesses a fastball, curveball and changeup, averaged 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings last summer with Short-Season Brooklyn but saw that figure drop to 7.0 through his first 13 starts with the Sand Gnats. With eight strikeouts on Sunday, Gant has 18 in his last four outings after starting the month with back-to-back 10-punchout efforts.

Having already eclipsed his career high by 29 1/3 innings, Gant ranks fourth in the South Atlantic League with 10 wins and a 2.76 ERA. Those numbers show he's getting more and more comfortable in Savannah, his first full-season stop.

"It sure beats starting the season in extended [spring training]," he said. "That's a rough two months getting up at 6:30, 7 every morning. It's just been a lot more fun here. Obviously, the competition is a little better and it's a little more taxing as far as the season goes. But I feel good right now and am enjoying how everything's going."

Dominic Smith, the Mets' third-ranked prospect, went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Ruiz homered, singled, drove in two runs and scored twice from the top of the lineup.