(July 22, 2022 – York, Pa.): Madness, as intended, ensued on Friday night as the York Revolution downed the Lancaster Barnstormers in the series opener at PeoplesBank Park in a game that got underway at 10:06 p.m. York backed a great Jorge Martinez outing by blasting three home runs, two by Nellie Rodriguez, in the winning effort, taking home a 6-1 victory.
York delivered the first blow of the night in the second inning when Rodriguez unloaded on a pitch from Lancaster starter Cam Gann into the playground area in left-center to lead off the frame with a 1-0 lead.
York kick started a two-out rally that was capped off by JC Encarnacion who ripped a two-run triple into right center, just past the outstretched glove of center fielder Shawon Dunston Jr. who made a diving effort. Yefri Perez and Lenin Rodriguez scored to push the Revs ahead, 3-0.
Next inning, the boomsticks stayed out for the Revolution offense, beginning with an opposite field home run from Carlos Franco to lead off the inning. For Franco, it was his 27th of the year and his 85th run driven in, as he is now one RBI shy from moving into a five-way tie for 10th in a single season in team history. Two batters later, Nellie Rodriguez launched yet another, a long blast to the roof of a house across Arch Street as his second multi-homer game of the season extended the lead to 5-0.
York chased Gann (5-7) after just three innings, tagging him with five runs on six hits, five of which went for extra bases.
Martinez (8-4) was dominant right from the start, retiring the first nine he faced. In seven innings on the night, he allowed just one run on four hits and one walk and struck out nine, bringing his season total to a league-leading 106 whiffs.
The lone run he allowed came in the sixth inning on an opposite field home run from Melvin Mercedes, the third is as many games for the Lancaster second baseman who extended his hitting streak to 19, one shy of a Barnstormer record.
York plated one more in the seventh inning on Melky Mesa’s third double of the night, this time a liner to right center field to score Franco, putting the Revs ahead 6-1. For Mesa, the three doubles tied a single-game high for the club, the 10th in history and first since Wellington Dotel did so vs. Somerset in 2019.
Brett de Geus followed Martinez to pitch the eighth, making quick work on Lancaster, retiring the side in order on just 12 pitches, which included two strikeouts.
Nick Howard worked around a walk and two seeing eye singles for a scoreless ninth to close it out at 1:05 a.m., making it the latest ending in York Revolution history.
The Revs will look to take home a series win over their rival on Saturday as Austin Nicely takes the mound against Erik Manoah with the game getting underway at 6:30 p.m. The night features Postgame Fireworks presented by UPMC with tickets on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
