(Sept. 4, 2021 – York, Pa.): Welington Dotel tied the game with a three-run homer in the sixth and won it with a two-out walk-off single in the ninth as the York Revolution erased an early five-run deficit in a big 9-8 come-from-behind victory over the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Saturday night at PeoplesBank Park. The Revs have won a season-high-tying four consecutive games and nine of their last 12, pulling within one game of the Blue Crabs for second place, and staying within two games of Lancaster for first place. York will host Southern Maryland again on Sunday at 2 p.m.
York opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Nellie Rodriguez slammed a two-run homer to dead center, his 15th of the season for a quick 2-0 Revs lead.
Southern Maryland seized early control with a seven-run frame in the top of the second, using three long balls to build a 7-2 advantage. Josh McAdams homered to left to get the Crabs on the board, and Joe DeLuca connected on a two-run home run to right-center putting Southern Maryland ahead. An error on a potential inning-ending double play grounder allowed another run to cross, and Jovan Rosa made it hurt with a three-run homer to left-center. Revs starter Eduardo Rivera needed 47 pitches to finish the frame, but left the bases loaded and lasted five innings without another run scoring, retiring his final eight batters.
Lenin Rodriguez afforded the Revs some immediate headway on the comeback, lining a two-run homer to left-center in the bottom of the second as his first round-tripper of the season brought the Revs within 7-4.
Rubi Silva led off the top of the sixth with a homer to right-center as Southern Maryland pushed its lead to 8-4, but the Revs bullpen allowed nothing else over four innings of work.
Crabs starter Josh Roeder retired his next 10 batters after the second inning home run, but a big inning began to brew in the bottom of the sixth when the first two Revs batters reached on infield errors. Nellie Rodriguez secured his third RBI of the night on a fielder’s choice to cut the deficit to 8-5, and Roeder was lifted following his first walk of the night which was issued to Carlos Franco. Dotel greeted reliever Dalton Geekie with a line drive three-run homer to right, tying the game at 8-8 in dramatic fashion.
With a fresh start heading into the late innings, it became a battle of the bullpens. Edward Paredes and Alberto Rodriguez both stranded runners at second in scoreless frames for the Revs, while Jim Fuller (2-2) tossed a perfect ninth as the York bullpen combined to hold the Crabs without a hit after the sixth.
Endrys Briceno struck out Franco to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and proceeded to strike out all four batters faced in the eighth, with the final two strike outs stranding Darian Sandford at third base after having reached on a wild pitch on a third strike and stealing both second and third.
Crabs closer Mat Latos struck out the first two in the bottom of the ninth as the Revs were dealt a franchise record-tying seven consecutive strike outs to that point, but JC Encarnacion kept the inning alive with an infield single, prior to stealing both second and third. Walks to Nellie Rodriguez and Franco loaded the bases for Dotel, who capped the Revs’ fifth walk-off victory of the season with a hard grounder up the middle, setting off a wild celebration in the infield.
Notes: Dotel’s walk-off hit is the second of his Revs career as he also delivered a walk-off single on August 26, 2019 vs. Sugar Land, capping a comeback of six runs. The Revs improve to 23-20 in comeback games with all four victories on the current winning streak occurring in come-from-behind fashion. Of the four victories, three have featured comebacks from down four runs or more; Saturday marked the Revs’ second five-run comeback on that streak. Dotel’s four RBI matched a season-best; he has now knocked in a run in six consecutive games with 10 RBI on that stretch. Sandford (0-for-1) lost a 12-game hitting streak, the Revs’ third-longest of the year, but stole his league-leading 51st and 52nd bases, pulling within three of the Revs’ single-season record (55, Wilson Valdez, 2014). Southern Maryland managed just one run over the final seven innings and was held without a hit in five of the final six innings. York has won three straight against Southern Maryland after losing the previous eight in-a-row. York righty Jhoendri Herrera (2-2, 9.43) faces Southern Maryland’s Kolton Mahoney (6-4, 6.20) on Sunday at 2 p.m. It is Space Balls Day presented by Coulson Technologies, Recovery Day, Bark in the Park, and Sunday Family Fun Day presented by Weis Markets. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
