(July 6, 2022 – Lancaster, Pa.): The York Revolution kicked off their second half by continuing a home-and-home series with the Lancaster Barnstormers on Wednesday night, and despite a well-pitched game by Jorge Martinez and a spirited comeback bid, dropped a 4-2 heartbreaker at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
Lancaster got on the board early as Colton Shaver drove a solo home run to the short porch in right field to lead off the second inning. It was the first home run allowed this year to a right-handed hitter by Martinez.
They would double the lead in the third courtesy of a Kelly Dugan RBI groundout. It scored Shawon Dunston Jr. who had started the inning with a single and made his way to third on a stolen base and a Melvin Mercedes sacrifice bunt.
York got a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the fourth with Troy Stokes Jr. leading off on a single and advancing to second on a balk by starter Erik Manoah. It was the first hit that the Revs mustered against Manoah who went through the order perfect the first time around. Manoah answered by forcing a lineout and two ground balls to get out of the inning still leading 2-0.
York finally got on the board in the top of the sixth. Yefri Perez started off the inning with a walk and made his way to third on a Jhon Nunez single. Perez came across to score on a double play ball to cut the lead in half at 2-1.
Martinez was able to battle through the sixth inning despite loading the bases. After a two-out walk and single, Martinez struck out Jake Hoover on a high fastball to escape the jam. Martinez finished his day after six, allowing just two runs while striking out four in a no-decision.
York started the seventh inning with back-to-back singles from Carlos Franco and Nellie Rodriguez. For Franco, the single increased his Revs record on-base streak to 49 consecutive games. JC Encarnacion continued to rake against the Barnstormers as he ripped a double down the third base line to score Franco and tie the game at 2-2.
Tuck Tucker was the first to enter in relief for the Revs, getting Dunston Jr. to fly out to right field for a quick first out in the bottom of the seventh. After walking Mercedes, Tucker was able to get Dugan to ground out softly to second before giving way to Nick Green. With a runner in scoring position, Green needed just one pitch to get Andretty Cordero to bounce back to the mound to get out of the inning and keep the game tied at 2-2.
LeDarious Clark led off the bottom of the eighth with an infield single, but was carted off after apparently injuring his ankle while sliding into second base on Shaver’s infield hit. After a sacrifice bunt, York brought the infield in an attempt to cut down the go-ahead run. Green forced Anderson Feliz to ground to second base, but Perez’s throw to the plate skipped away from Nunez, allowing both the pinch-running Trace Loehr and Shaver to score to put the Barnstormers ahead 4-2.
York got two runners on with one out in the ninth against West Tunnell on a walk to Franco and single from Josue Herrera. With two on and one out, Encarnacion drove a ball to deep right center field, coming mere inches shy of giving the Revs the lead. Instead, Dunston Jr. made the running catch against the fence and doubled off Franco at second base to end the game.
York falls to 8-11 in the season’s War of the Roses series, while the current five-game series is now even at 2-2, leading to a rubber match on Thursday in Lancaster with Alex Sanabia taking the ball against Oscar De La Cruz beginning 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.