(June 2, 2022 – York, Pa.): Elmer Reyes spotted the York Revolution an early lead but Southern Maryland lefty Mitch Lambson struck out 13 in a complete game effort as the Revs dropped the series rubber match, 7-1 on Thursday evening at PeoplesBank Park.
Rain tried to mess with Thursday’s game, but after a 38-minute delay, the two teams were able to get underway. Lambson’s gem on the mound and a big seventh inning propelled the Blue Crabs to the series victory.
York scored first for the third straight game on Reyes’ first inning longball over the Arch Nemesis to open the scoring with a 1-0 lead. It was the third home run of the season for the Revs shortstop.
The Revs looked like they could threaten for more in the second against Lambson. York loaded the bases after singles by Carlos Franco and JC Encarnacion and a walk to Connor Lien, but Lambson set down the next three via a pair of strikeouts and a tapper back to the mound.
Southern Maryland took the lead in the fourth inning on Joe DeLuca’s two-run single to right field, scoring Jared Walker and Alex Crosby who had both reached with one out. DeLuca’s single brought his RBI total to 11 in just nine games played since returning to the Blue Crabs from the Cincinnati Reds organization.
After a quiet first six innings offensively from both sides, things unraveled against the Revs in the top of the seventh. Michael Wielansky got the scoring started with a two-run single to center, his first hit since being acquired by the Blue Crabs on Tuesday in a trade from Long Island. Two batters later, Walker drove a long single off the right field wall, missing a grand slam by a matter of feet, plating two more. Crosby capped the five-run frame with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left field. It was the biggest inning allowed by the Revs pitching staff in exactly three weeks, since a five-run inning allowed at Staten Island on May 12.
York starter Jorge Martinez exited in the seventh inning, closing his day after 6.1, striking out four but allowing season-highs with five runs and four walks. The righty exited trailing 2-1 before three of his runners scored following his departure.
York had been held hitless since the second inning by Lambson until Encarnacion led off the seventh inning with a base hit off of Lambson’s foot. York had runners in scoring position with two outs thanks to a Yefri Perez double, but both were left stranded.
Lambson returned for the ninth inning having already thrown 113 pitches on the night. After allowing a one-out single to Encarnacion (3-for-4), Lambson got Lien looking for his 13th strikeout. That tied the most by an opposing starter against the Revs in team history as he became the fifth starter to do so and first since Somerset’s David Kubiak in June 2019. It also tied the most strike outs in a game by any Atantic League pitcher this season.
Lambson completed the game on a fielder’s choice grounder to third on his 131st pitch of the night, finishing his second nine-inning complete game of the year and becoming the first Atlantic League pitcher this season to log multiple complete games.
The Revs will welcome the Wild Health Genomes to PeoplesBank Park for the first time on Friday to kick off a three-game series on Pride in the Park Night presented by UPMC. The night includes a Pride Jersey Auction presented by JLS Automation to benefit Rainbow Rose Center. It is also a Fiesta Friday. First pitch from scheduled Revs starter Duke von Schamann is set for 6:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
