(June 26, 2021 – York, Pa.): Jake Welch worked six strong innings but the York Revolution fell to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, 4-2 on Saturday night at Regency Furniture Stadium. York will aim to avoid a sweep in the series finale on Sunday afternoon before the road trip continues to High Point on Tuesday night.
York missed opportunities to score early in the game as John Sansone led off the second with a walk, stole second, and moved to third on an error before an out was recorded but couldn’t be brought home. Jack Kenley later bunted for a single and moved to second on a wild pitch with no outs in the fourth but was also stranded.
York finally broke the ice with a run in the fifth. Walner Espinal led off with a double down the left field line and took third when Andrew Dundon punched a single into center. That allowed Espinal to score on a double play grounder for the 1-0 lead.
Welch was excellent most of the night and worked around leadoff base runners each inning from the second through the fifth, including stranding Joe DeLuca after a leadoff double in the fifth inning.
Southern Maryland set the table with one out in the sixth, however, as Zach Collier walked and David Harris singled to center. Josh McAdams followed with an RBI double past the diving Sansone at third, tying the game, while Harris came in from third on an error as the Revs failed to receive left fielder James Harris’ throw to the infield.
Welch (1-2) allowed just those two runs (one earned) over six innings, absorbing the loss.
Southern Maryland added another unearned run in the seventh as Harris’ jersey was clipped by a pitch from reliever Brandon Fry, forcing in a run to make it 3-1.
The Revs sliced it back to a one-run game in the eighth as Kenley doubled past first base with one out and came home on a two-out infield single by JC Encarnacion, but the Blue Crabs responded with a two-out infield hit of their own from Matt Hibbert, knocking in a run to extend the lead back to two runs at its final margin of 4-2.
Crabs starter Sam Burton (1-2) earned the win, allowing one run in six innings while Endrys Briceno handled a scoreless ninth for his first save.
The Revs will send Alex Sanabia (3-0, 2.96) to the mound on Sunday against Crabs ace Daryl Thompson (3-1, 3.97) at 2:05 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and the WOYK YouTube channel beginning at 1:45 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
