Just as Friday night’s game was about to get underway, the skies opened up and a 1:43 rain delay commenced. However, for the York Revolution, it was worth the wait, as they edged the Lancaster Barnstormers 3-2 thanks to a go-ahead two-run homer from Michael Burgess in the fifth and a stellar performance from the bullpen in back of Frank Gailey, as York improves to 3-2 to begin the second half.
The Revs wasted no time getting on the board against Bryan Evans. Alonzo Harris led off the game with a single, stole second, and came around to score on an Alexi Casilla single up the middle to give the Revs a 1-0 lead. Casilla had three hits in the ballgame and extended his hitting streak to a team-best 10 straight games.
The Barnstormers answered in their first frame. Rico Noel led off with a walk, advanced to second on a fly ball to deep left-center, and then stole third. Then with one away, Sean Halton singled to center to tie the score at 1-1.
Halton would come through for the Barnstormers again in the third, launching a leadoff home run to straight away center field for his 16th of the season, giving Lancaster a 2-1 advantage.
Evans meanwhile settled down on the mound, at one point retiring 11 of 13 batters, and finishing the night with 10 strikeouts despite taking the loss.
Casilla walked with one out in the fifth, and then with two down, Burgess unloaded against Evans (5-3), launching a moonshot over the billboards well beyond the fence in right-center to give the Revs the 3-2 lead.
That was all York would need. Gailey (6-6) went five innings allowing just the two earned runs, and recorded his sixth win of the season, and his first since May 20 in Sugar Land.
The bullpen for the Revs was superb. Waldis Joaquin, Curtis Partch, Ricardo Gomez, and Brad Allen would combine to work four consecutive scoreless innings, retiring 12 of the final 13 Barnstormer hitters. The lone exception was a leadoff walk from Gomez, but he would respond by striking out the side. The Barnstormers did not record a base hit after the fourth inning, as Brad Allen struck out two in the ninth for his tenth save of the season, finishing off the 3-2 victory.
The Revs and Barnstormers are back in action on Saturday from Clipper Magazine Stadium, with Lancaster lefty Rommie Lewis (5-5, 5.26) and York righty Steve Janas (1-4, 5.11) facing off in a 6:30 p.m. tilt. Darrell Henry and Matt Present will be on the air at 6:10 p.m. on 1350 WOYK, as well as online at woyk1350.com and on the WOYK App.
NOTES:
The Revs struck out 16 times at the plate, the most this season, tying a franchise single-game record. They have done it three times overall, but have gone on to win two of those games. York is now 3-1 in their last four one-run games, after going 9-17 in one-run games to begin the season. Casilla has gone 18-39 (.462) over his 10-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 14 of 18 games as a Rev, including seven multi-hit games. Isaias Tejeda also recorded a three-hit game, his 22nd multi-hit game of the season.
