Victor Mateo enjoyed his best outing of the season on the mound while Alexi Casilla recorded his first three-hit game at the plate and shined in the field, as the York Revolution bounced back with a 3-1 win over the Lancaster Barnstormers on Saturday night in front of 4,573 fans at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
The Revs got on the board first in the top of the second inning as Derrick Robinson slapped a one-out double down the line in left. Luis Cruz then singled him to third, setting up Casilla for the RBI single back up the middle.
The Revs used an identical formula in the third, as Angel Franco laced a double to the gap in left center field, Travis Witherspoon then singled him to third, and Michael Burgess knocked him in with a chopper through the right side of the infield. After the Revs failed to string three hits together in any of their previous five games, they did just that in back-to-back innings for a 2-0 lead.
The Revs made it three straight innings with a run as Casilla led off the fourth with a single to center, and after a double by Jared Mitchell pushed him to third, came around to score on a groundout by Alonzo Harris to make it a 3-0 game.
Meanwhile, Mateo was dealing as he faced just one over the minimum through his first four innings of work, and on the night allowed just one run on four hits and two walks, going a season-long seven innings on the mound. It was the sixth time in eight starts this season that Mateo allowed one earned run or fewer.
The Revs did not commit a single error behind Mateo on the night, and were aided by a Casilla web gem on a glove flip to first base to take a bunt single away from the speedy Darian Sandford to lead off the bottom of the sixth.
The lone Barnstormer run came in the seventh inning as Sean Halton led off with a home run to straight away left, but Mateo bounced back, retiring the next three to wrap up his night. The Revs then turned it over to the bullpen as Michael Click notched a one-two-three eighth inning, setting it up for Chase Huchingson’s first save opportunity in the ninth.
Ahead by two, Huchingson gave up a leadoff single to Caleb Gindl off the wall in right but retired K.C. Hobson on a groundout to first. A one-out walk to Halton brought the winning run to the plate, and looking to avoid the lefty-lefty matchup, Lancaster turned to pinch-hitter Garret Weber. After falling behind Weber 3-1, Huchingson came up big, inducing a game-ending double play ball to preserve the victory, evening the series at a game apiece.
The two teams will play game three of the four-game set on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. as Curtis Partch (1-3, 6.00) faces off with Barnstormer lefty Nate Reed (0-1, 5.02). Darrell Henry and Matt Present will be on the call at 1:40 p.m. from Clipper Magazine Stadium on SportsRadio 1350 WOYK as well as online at woyk1350.com and the WOYK App.
