(July 30, 2021 – Lexington, KY): The York Revolution used a pair of clutch two-run blasts in the top of the seventh, coming from behind to beat the Lexington Legends, 4-3 in Friday’s series opener at Lexington Legends Ballpark.
Lexington opened the scoring in the bottom of the second as Jordan Pacheco connected on a solo homer to left for a 1-0 lead.
The Legends added two more in the third when Brandon Phillips picked up an RBI single on a misplayed fly ball in right, and Pacheco added an RBI knock into right field. Revs starter Eduardo Rivera limited the damage, however, inducing a big double play off the bat of Omar Artsen with the bases loaded as Josue Herrera snagged a sharp one-hopper to his left and Nellie Rodriguez made a great pick at first.
Rivera finished strong, facing the minimum over his final two innings in his first start since 2014, allowing just three runs on four hits in five innings of work.
Isaac Sanchez came up huge out of the Revs bullpen in the sixth. Facing a bases loaded, no-out jam after a walk and two singles, Sanchez (3-0) struck out Derek Reddy looking before a foul pop up and a fly out to deep center ended the inning with the Revs still down just 3-0.
Rodriguez jump started things in the top of the seventh, ripping a leadoff single to left, extending his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games in the process. Andrew Dundon followed with a pinch-hit home run to deep left, his third long ball of the season, bringing the Revs within 3-2. Two batters later, Herrera smoked a one-out double down the right field line, chasing Legends starter Henry Owens after 6.1 innings. Osmy Gregorio greeted lefty reliever Daniel Gibson (1-2) with a first pitch opposite field two-run homer to right, his first with York, lifting the Revs to a sudden 4-3 lead.
The four-run seventh spoiled what had been a gem for Owens, who had taken a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning. The lefty had retired 10 straight at one point and struck out nine including each of the first four batters he faced, but ended up with a no-decision.
Brandon Fry protected the lead with a scoreless seventh, Bubby Rossman handled a perfect eighth, and Jim Fuller took care of a scoreless ninth for his league-leading 15th save.
Notes: Rodriguez’ 14-game streak matches his own season-opening streak as the Revs’ longest of the year. Dundon’s home run was the fifth pinch-hit homer in Revs history and first since Jared Mitchell (May 31, 2017). York has won back-to-back games and three of four against Lexington this week, improving to 5-2 against Lexington overall. The comeback win is the 15th of the year for the Revs and sixth when trailing after six innings. York righty Jake Welch (1-4) gets the ball 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 the WOYK YouTube channel beginning at 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.