(May 12, 2022 – Staten Island, NY): The York Revolution once again allowed one big inning and struggled to score offensively, a formula that resulted in a series sweep suffered at the hands of the Staten Island FerryHawks on Thursday evening at Staten Island University Health Community Park.
York plated a first inning run for the second consecutive game to open the scoring. Troy Stokes Jr. led off the contest with an infield single and advanced on a passed ball. Elmer Reyes pushed Stokes Jr. to third on a ground out, and Melky Mesa smacked a grounder off the third base bag for an RBI infield hit, an eight-game hitting streak, and a 1-0 first inning lead.
Revs starter Merandy Gonzalez was strong early in his debut performance, spinning scoreless frames through the first three innings.
Staten Island tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a Ricardo Cespedes sac fly to center field. That plated Brandon Wagner who reached earlier in the inning on an infield single resulting from a misplayed pop up in the infield.
The Revs took their final lead in the top of the fifth. Yefri Perez sparked the threat with a leadoff single to left-center while Stokes Jr. and Reyes walked to load the bases with no outs, ending the night of FerryHawks starter Anthony Rodriguez. Reliever Joe Kuzia walked Mesa to force in a run, giving York a 2-1 lead. Things unraveled, however, as Nellie Rodriguez tapped into what became a double play when home plate umpire Federico De Jesus ruled that Rodriguez was out of the base line when catcher Norberto Susini’s throw to first base hit Rodriguez in the back. That helped allow Kuzia to escape the inning with no further damage and York on top by only a slim 2-1 margin.
Ben Ruta drilled a game-tying solo homer to right in the bottom of the fifth, and the FerryHawks added four more runs with two outs as Rymer Liriano drove a two-run double to deep left-center, Cespedes chased Gonzalez (0-1) with a run-scoring ground rule double lined through an opening in the right field fence, and Zach Racusin greeted reliever Jhoendri Herrera with an RBI infield hit.
Kacy Clemens added a solo homer to right-center in the bottom of the sixth to close the scoring.
The Revs will look to rebound on Friday night in Lancaster as RHP Jorge Martinez goes up against Barnstormers righty Cam Gann at 6:30 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 6:10 p.m. with Darrell Henry and Jake Ness on the call.
