(August 30, 2019 – Waldorf, Md.): Mitch Atkins logged his third complete game of the season and extended his winning streak to a franchise record nine consecutive decisions as the York Revolution blew out the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, 10-1 in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Friday night in front of 5,287 fans at Regency Furniture Stadium. The win improves the Revs’ second half record to 29-19, maintaining a three-game lead for first place while pushing the third place Blue Crabs to five games back.
Atkins (10-4) allowed just one run on six hits over seven strong innings with one walk and seven strike outs. The ninth consecutive victory broke the previous club record of eight consecutive wins set by Corey Thurman in 2012.
Offensively, the Revs pounded 15 hits and drew nine walks in the victory. York struck first on an Isaias Tejeda RBI ground out in the top of the first, and built a 10-0 lead by scoring three runs in three consecutive innings from the third through the fifth.
York missed an opportunity in the second, leaving the bases loaded after three consecutive singles from Angelys Nina, James Skelton, and Alvaro Rondon.
The Revs came through in the third, however, as Telvin Nash took a leadoff walk and Tejeda singled to set the table. Carlos Franco laced an RBI single to left-center, and Tejeda scored from first while Franco went all the way to third on a fielding error by center fielder Travis Witherspoon as the ball skipped to the fence. Melky Mesa smashed an RBI single to left through a drawn-in infield to increase the lead to 4-0.
Nina drilled a two-run double down the right field line and Rondon sprayed an RBI single into right to make it 7-0 in the fourth.
Franco pushed home a run on a fielder’s choice grounder in the fifth, while a second run crossed when Nash raced home on a wild pitch. Mesa closed the Revs’ scoring with a line drive RBI single to center to make it 10-0.
Southern Maryland’s only run came on a two-out bloop RBI single to shallow right-center by Kent Blackstone in the bottom of the fifth.
York dropped the opening game of Friday’s doubleheader, 7-0 in a game that counted toward the first half standings as it was a makeup from a rain out on July 4. With the loss, the Revs’ first half record is complete at 34-36.
The game was scoreless until the Crabs plated three in the bottom of the fourth on a Josh McAdams two-run double to deep center and a Witherspoon RBI triple down the right field line, all with two outs.
Jon Griffin added a three-run homer to left in the bottom of the fifth, and Cory Vaughn tagged a solo homer to left later in the inning, his 20th of the season.
Ryan Chaffee (3-4) worked five scoreless and struck out eight while overcoming five walks to pick up the win in his first start since 2011, making the spot start out of the Southern Maryland bullpen.
Notes: Atkins has earned double digit wins in each of his two seasons in York, joining Thurman and Chris Cody as the third pitcher in Revs history to enjoy multiple 10-win seasons. His three complete games are tied for third-most in a season in team history, one shy of the club record shared by Chris Steinborn (2007) and Chris Cody (2013), and are the most since Cody’s four in 2013. Atkins’ four career complete games with York are tied for third on the all-time list, two shy of Cody’s franchise record. Welington Dotel went a combined 4-for-8 with three stolen bases in the doubleheader. Dotel is now 21-for-39 (.538) on a nine-game hitting streak. He now has 29 steals on the season, moving past Eric Patterson, Jared Mitchell, and Scott Grimes into eighth on the Revs’ all-time single season list. His 48 career steals with York moves him past Alonzo Harris and Keoni DeRenne into sixth on the all-time chart. Nash saw a nine-game hitting streak end, going a combined 0-for-3 in the twinbill, but set a Revs doubleheader record with six walks, two more than the previous record for a single day. Nash now has a league-leading 86 walks on the season, breaking Grimes’ single-season club record of 84 set in 2010. Nash also now has 206 walks in his Revs career, breaking Grimes’ previous franchise record of 205. Nash is 15 walks shy of the league record of 101 shared by teammate James Skelton. Tejeda doubled in the third inning of the opening game, tying the Revs’ single-season doubles record (Andres Perez, 2013) with his league-leading 38th this season. It was also the 100th double of his Revs career, joining Perez as the second player in Revs history to record 100 doubles. Rondon went 3-for-5 in the nightcap and is now 6-for-12 over his last three games, while having reached base eight of 14 times. York’s 29-19 second half record establishes the best 48-game start to a half in club history. The Revs have won five of their last six second half games. York righty Dan Minor (7-8, 5.14) faces Southern Maryland right-hander Dusten Knight (1-4, 3.74) on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and WOYK on YouTube beginning at 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.
CLICK HERE FOR BOX SCORES
CLICK HERE FOR WOYK AUDIO HIGHLIGHTS
CLICK HERE FOR WOYK YOUTUBE BROADCAST
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS TO NEXT HOME GAME (FRIDAY, SEPT. 6 VS. SOUTHERN MARYLAND)
