Jaye fans career-high 9 in loss

SAVANNAH, Ga. (May 2, 2013) -- Kannapolis starting pitcher Myles Jaye equaled a career-high with nine strikeouts, but the Savannah Sand Gnats gave the Intimidators ace his first loss of the season, 5-3, on Thursday at Grayson Stadium. The Intimidators (10-16) season-long losing skid reached six games, while first-place Savannah (16-9) put itself in position to play for a sweep in Friday's series finale.

Jaye (3-1) worked six innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits. Entering the game, he had only allowed three earned runs through his first five starts of the season. After giving up three runs in the fourth inning, Jaye bounced back to strike out three in a scoreless fifth and fanned the final two batters he faced to get out of the sixth.

The Gnats pulled ahead in the sixth inning for the first time on the night. Intimidators shortstop Jean Almanzar committed an error that allowed Jayce Boyd to reach base, opening the door for Savannah. Kevin Plawecki followed with an RBI-double as Boyd scored from first to give the Gnats a 4-3 advantage.

In his first at-bat with Kannapolis, Brett Tanner led off the top of the second with a home run for an early 1-0 edge. Tanner was transferred to the Intimidators earlier in the day from Winston-Salem after appearing in just eight games for the Dash to open the year.

Kale Kiser added a home run (2) with one out in the third. Ruben Sierra Jr. extended the inning with a two-out single and scored from first on a Jason Coats double to put Kannapolis up 3-0.

Savannah tied the game with a 3-run fourth inning. Boyd followed singles by Eudy Pina and Yucary De La Cruz with a two-run double, and Boyd scored on a wild pitch to even the score, 3-3.

Gabriel Ynoa (3-2) earned the win for Savannah, striking out eight over seven innings. Beck Wheeler spun two scoreless frames for the save (2).

The start of the game came after a 92 minute delay due to rain in Savannah, but the teams took just 2:04 to complete the game, the shortest 9-inning contest for Kannapolis this season.

The Intimidators and Sand Gnats finish the series on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Kannapolis returns home to CMC-NorthEast Stadium to open a 4-game series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Saturday with post-game fireworks presented by Freightliner Rec Club. For ticket information, please call the F&M Bank Box Office at (704) 932-3267 or visit IntimidatorsBaseball.com