(July 5, 2022 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution closed out the first half on a high note, taking both ends of a doubleheader against the rival Lancaster Barnstormers on Tuesday evening at PeoplesBank Park, winning 4-2 in the opener and 3-1 in the nightcap, cutting their War of the Roses deficit to 10-8 in the process.
In the opening game, Lancaster scored first in the top half of the second inning as Anthony Peroni, who entered the game hitting just .171, drove in Anderson Feliz with an RBI double to right-center.
After a crisp first inning, Lancaster lefty Augie Sylk struggled out of the gates in the second inning, loading the bases on two walks and a single. Josue Herrera took the third walk of the inning, scoring Nellie Rodriguez to tie the game at 1-1. Lenin Rodriguez drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice up the middle, and Troy Stokes Jr. provided the icing on the inning with a two-run triple to left center field to extend York’s lead to 4-1.
Lancaster managed one more in the top of the fourth with back-to-back hits to open things up, the second being another RBI double, this time from Feliz on a liner to right, cutting the lead to 4-2.
Lancaster threatened again in the fifth, loading the bases with two away after York starter Eduardo Rivera’s sixth walk of the day. Rivera exited after 4.2 innings, walking a season-high and striking out three, while allowing just four hits. He was relieved by Brett de Geus who got Feliz to roll over a ground ball to first to get York out of the inning, keeping the lead intact at 4-2.
Nick Howard pitched a crisp 1-2-3 sixth inning with two strikeouts, turning things over to Jim Fuller in the seventh.
Fuller got the first two hitters quickly before allowing a ground rule double to right-center by Andretty Cordero, bringing LeDarious Clark to the plate as the tying run. Fuller was able to bear down, however, striking out Clark to close down his 10th save on the season. It was the 39th save of his Revs career, tying Mike DeMark (2011, 14-16) for the franchise’s all-time record. It was also the 64th of his Atlantic League career, tying Felipe Paulino (Sugar Land) for seventh in league history.
Game two started off quietly with Duke von Schamann and Cam Gann each tossing a pair of zeroes through the first two innings.
In the bottom of the third, York got the first two runners in scoring position on a Jack Kenley single and a Jhon Nunez double. With the infield halfway in, Yefri Perez’ ground ball to second base scored Kenley who was running on contact, beating the throw to the plate to put York ahead 1-0.
Von Schamann was sharp in the spot start and continued to pitch into the sixth inning as he passed the 80-pitch mark. Despite a two-out walk to Cordero, von Schamann (3-2) remained in the game and was able to get Clark to chop back to the mound to finish his sixth scoreless inning on 91 pitches. He finished the night allowing just four hits while striking out four in six scoreless frames.
York finally got another huge insurance run as Carlos Franco chased Gann (4-6) with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Reyes who had led off with his league-leading 23rd double. With the single, Franco knocked in his league-leading 73rd run, while extending his franchise record on-base streak to 48 consecutive games. Connor Lien scored Franco with a single of his own on a liner in front of a diving Feliz in left, making it a 3-0 game with two huge insurance runs.
Lancaster scored one in the top of the seventh, proving the sixth inning insurance to be vital, on a two-out Jake Hoover infield single. Josh Martin retired the next batter on a ground out to second, closing out his 21st career save and first since 2019.
York wrapped up its first half on a two-game winning streak, closing it with a 31-35 record, good for third place in the North Division.
They will continue their home-and-home series with the Barnstormers in Lancaster on Wednesday as Jorge Martinez gets the ball in the second half opener which will get underway 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.
