(May 1, 2018) -- The York Revolution picked up their fourth win of the season Tuesday night, knocking off the Road Warriors 6-0 for their first shutout victory on the 2018 campaign.
Making his second start of the season, Jay Gause cruised through a scoreless top of the first. The Revs made Road Warriors starter Felix Baez work hard in the bottom of the inning, but York left the base loaded.
After Gause fired a scoreless top of the second, Ryan Dent walked to lead off the bottom and came around to score on a Travis Witherspoon sacrifice fly to center field. The Revs added another run when Alexi Casilla tripled home Jared Mitchell with two outs, making it 2-0 after two.
In the third, Luis Cruz helped tack on to the lead with a three-run inside-the-park home run on a fly ball to deep right-center field to put the Revs up 5-0. It was the second inside-the-parker in Revs history.
The home run happened under unfortunate circumstances however, as Road Warriors center fielder Jorge Fernandez and right fielder Ryde Rodriguez collided on the play as they were both going for the ball in the gap. Both went down right away and neither Fernandez nor Rodriguez were able to get up until Road Warriors’ coaches and players, and both trainers ran out to assist them after the play was over. Both walked off the field under their own power and were removed from the game.
Gause went on to throw five shutout innings allowing just three hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Baez, on the other hand, was ineffective for the Road Warriors. The right-hander was removed from the game after just three innings and 92 pitches while giving up five earned runs.
The game moved along without much further offensive action until the top of the seventh when the Road Warriors loaded the bases with two outs, but Revs reliever Robert Carson struck out Osvaldo Martinez swinging to end the threat. Carson gave up five hits in two innings of work but didn’t allow a run and struck out four.
Frank DeJiulio Jr. followed Carson by retiring the Road Warriors in order in the eighth.
The Revs pushed across one more run on Mitchell’s sacrifice fly to left field in the bottom of the eighth.
Jake Ezell came on to pitch the ninth and retired the side in order to finish off the four-pitcher combined shutout for the Revs.
Gause (1-0) earned the win and Baez (0-1) took the loss.
The three-game series wraps up Wednesday with a day-night doubleheader. The first game starts at 11 a.m. on Baseball in Education Day and the second game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Notes: Cruz' inside-the-park home run is the second in Revs history, joining Tim Battle who accomplished the feat on August 20, 2014 vs. Lancaster, also a three-run homer; both occurred at PeoplesBank Park. Of the Revs' four home runs as a team on the young season, three have been three-run round-trippers. The 4-1 start is the Revs' best since being 4-1 through five games at the start of the 2014 season.
Story by Michael Marcantonini
Broadcaster/Media Relations Asst.
